March Event and Intro Log

[magicademymods]

March Event and Intro Log Golem On The Loose The rain never stops. Water and mud track all over campus. Diligent cleaning golems stomp about, mopping and scrubbing and polishing and then going back to do it all over again, and again, and again... One of them seems to have had it. The renegade golem bursts into Kedrigan Hall -- interrupting classes and disrupting labwork to furiously seize students and scrub every last scrap of mud and dirt off of them. All the halls have been locked off with "Under Cleaning" signs, and anyone who enters them meets with the golem's wrath, as it violently plays a pre-recorded message about not interfering with groundskeeping and deploys a giant claw-like tool to grab the interloper and put them back on unforbidden ground. The professors, who are after all completely immune to the golem's attention by its very design, seem to think this is a good learning opportunity for students. Is it? Horrible Spell Doom? "Are you sure you're ready for the test on Advanced Gaseous Discovery?" one upperclassman asks the other. "Of course I'm sure," the second says confidently. Whipping out a wand from a holster on her belt, she sweeps her wand through the air gracefully, pronouncing several Osmarian sigils as she draws them. Probably. "See, that's a blue cloud--" Said blue cloud, which puffs into being as the last syllable left her lips, abruptly doubls in size. Then it doubles in size again. And again. The upperclassmen, who have been in Diatu for several years and know exactly what this sort of thing means, don't hesitate. Not even stopping to share a glance between them, they run like crazy, leaving the growing cloud behind just as classes let out and students begin to enter the halls. But... surely it doesn't have any weird and wacky side effects, right? The Bala-inlota Parade (aka The Non-Horrible Prompt) To celebrate the start of the Bala-inlota season, Anastara spares no expense. The great parade and associated festival stretches the whole weekend, and the whole city puts on their colors and turns out for the fun. Enterprising vendors sell food, drinks, and souvenirs ranging from small and crude figurines to magical constructs that shine field displays onto flat surfaces so you can watch the action up-close! (Good luck affording that, students.) Practically any sort of entertainment you could want appears on the streets and canals of Anastara, and food and drink flow freely. Research On the Sundered With the arrival of the Sundered come those wizards engaged in research on their presence here, now set to investigate what brought them here and how to get them home. All newly-arrived Sundered students are asked to meet with representatives of the research team, to introduce themselves and relate what they will of their homes. In addition, the team requests samples of blood, hair, and skin -- carefully magically collected, and the researchers will sign in the presence of the Sundered a Glyphed contract that forbids them from using the samples for a purpose they know will be harmful. (They quite understand your reasons to be suspicious of this collection! And they will not compel anyone who refuses even given these conditions.) This month, the team has developed a Sundering spell that they warn is crude and unpolished, because the Curriculum is so unpracticed. They hope it will connect to your home worlds and establish a magical link they can build off of to open further passages. No promises! And to those who do undergo this spellwork... it has a certain side effect of confusion, as brief images from your home world flicker across your vision for a few hours afterwards. Wonders Await Diatu Magicademy is open to you in all its glory. Have fun!

A Special Note

If you thread out one or more scenes based on the confusion from "Research on the Sundered", respond to the comment on this post with a link to that thread. The results of this will be revealed next month! (It is, we're afraid, not a regain, lest your participation be based solely on that hope!)

Comments

[shiningkindness]

Maybe...but you'd think they'd be a bit more worried about the students' safety.

[woo_oo]

That's just it - maybe this was a test! To see how we'd handle it!

[shiningkindness]

With a bright smile, she nodded. "Sure!" Luckily, the performers on stage seemed to be taking a break. "The band is made up of my group of friends, and most of us play a musical instrument, except for one girl. But we all sing, and perform the songs that we write. One of my friends, Sunset Shimmer, is actually here, and she's in the band too. She plays the guitar."

[shiningkindness]

That's amazing! [She holds out her hand to Peregrin, and if he lets her, she'll go ahead and pet him.]

What else can he turn into?

[stillnewatthis]

Also, my reaction to you is unlikely to change based on your new circumstances. [Just adding that in. It might be awkward for others to help him, after all.]

[stillnewatthis]

"Then I think I can put up a good defense," Orisa said, in tones both light and reassuring.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Awright! Swing by it! [Jecht shifts his weight to one foot, readying a heck of a kick. If she's worried it'll hurt his bare foot -- don't.]

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Oh hell yeah! You're talking my language!

[Albeit with less vulgarity, but still!]

[pawper]

[The names aren't familiar at all, but she can grasp the important parts without much trouble; a low, appreciative whistle.]

Those must be some pretty big towns. [Or maybe even a port city, the likes of which she's heard about but never visited.] I've never seen anything bigger than a harvest fair, so something like this.....it's hard to decide what to look at next, you know?

[pawper]

[A moment to switch gears, fascinated by the sight of Primrose stretching out those delicate-looking wings — she's never seen a bat before — and then Lys is smiling back. Genuine, earnest, but also a little apprehensive; made newly aware of the book tucked under her arm, heavy and thick and full of words she couldn't read.]

Same here! I'm Lys. [...] Are you new here too, Daniel?

[pawper]

Huh?

[Oh no, even more five-dollar words. This was definitely shaping up to be a conversation where her little brother would have excelled — he had always been so smart, grasping new ideas so easily, blazing through the battered handful of books his family could find for him. But it's not Tobias standing before Orisa today; just Lys, without any sort of natural genius to back her up.

Dwelling on that wouldn't do either of them any good, however. She focuses instead on the delicate play of Orisa's mechanical fingers as they accept the feather, fascinated in a way that defied description: there's a perfection to the movement that Lys has never seen before, exacting and deliberate like the finest work of a master blacksmith.]

Oh, um......so the Factors are the easy part for you. [She laughs, sheepish.] I'm not any good at math, myself. Being able to work out equations like that sounds....well, incredible!

[Already she senses that this next question might be a weird thing to ask, but really — when has that ever stopped her?]

And what are you usually feeling, right then?

[pawper]

Yeah, but—

[If his mind is entirely made up to smash the golem into little pieces, Lys doesn't think she can talk him out of the attempt. Only her streak of sympathy for what she sees as a loyal creature turned nuisance, not threat, even pushes her to try.]

—wait, wait. If there's a way to make him stop without.....breaking him, can we try that first? Please?

[Speaking a little faster, mindful of the fact that they didn't have long before the golem lunged for one (or both) of them.]

If we can get him on his back somehow, I know a spell that might keep him down.

[pawper]

[It's a lot to try and keep track of all at once; Lys doesn't even try, completely swept up in the grandiosity of it all. Making a quick gesture to keep Arthur from following (he was doing just fine right where he was!), she practically jogs across the stage when summoned. Though she accepts the pen and coin equally without question, her excitement noticeably fades when asked to write something; braiding letters into words and words into sentences was hard enough when allowed to concentrate in complete silence, alone.

Thankfully, she's been given an alternative. Uncapping the pen, Lys scrawls a quick sketch on the coin's shiny surface: a flower in full bloom, every petal accounted for.]

[woo_oo]

Actually I think one of the magical components of this world is that we are all automatically speaking the same - Oh! You mean you want to do it! Great!

[woo_oo]

"Whoops." Webby looked at her wand, as if that was the issue. "Maybe I pointed wrong... well, hiccups are much easier to cure than sadness!" Supposedly.

[woo_oo]

[A little excited squeal-]

Can we fist bump? I love fist bumping!

[darkenedmoon]

I fail to see why we should not! I have only learned of such a thing, but.

[Really, Yotsuyu is of the mindset that just about anything is permissible, if Webby gets joy out of it. Save for the really dangerous things, or alcohol. She lowers her fisted hand to the duckling's height.]

[outofyourshadow]

She took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself down before she nodded. "...Right...thanks."

[shiningkindness]

A test? I mean, I suppose it'd be good practice, but with most of us still so new to this magic, that was pretty risky.

[Especially since there didn't appear to have been anyone paying attention in case someone had gotten hurt.]

[shiningkindness]

[Once she was finished drawing on the coin, the main performer first took the pen from her, capping it and putting it away. Then he held up the coin for the audience to see, showing off the drawn flower on its surface.

Placing the coin back in Lys' hand, he curled her fingers over it, instructing her to hold it tight and keep her hand up, just as Fluttershy's hand was.

As he stepped away, a choir starts singing behind her as well. And after a moment, both of Lys' and Fluttershy's raised hands begin to glow.]

[shiningkindness]

[She nods, and with a touch to Ballet's fin, the land whale curves to swim towards the trash can.]

[darkenedmoon]

I am...not certain that the golems have that higher function of reasoning, as we do. They are...designed for the certain tasks that they are set, perhaps. We had such things in the world I am from, and smaller types--though they were more in Eorzea, since they were magic, and where I lived was part of the Garlean Empire, who does not truck with magical forces.

[That sort of thing was for their subjugated realms, and of course Eorzea, flush with it. But Yotsuyu had been sure to know her enemy. Or, rather, the enemies of the Empire.]

[darkenedmoon]

It is...somewhat war-torn, I suppose. Bogged down. It was under the rule of the Garlean Empire for years, now...though it was liberated recently. Their prince, who had been in hiding, returned and freed them.

[Yes. Their prince, not hers.]

The land itself is fairly verdant and warm. And there are pockets of beauty...like the Heron's Flight, a deep pool surrounded by pine trees and mountains. But there are wandering native creatures, so it is wise to be cautious.

[darkenedmoon]

She raises her hand in turn, chuckling. "I am certain I shall succumb at some point, if only because I have at least one acquaintance assured to play on the school team. But I shall endeavor to resist for as long as I may."

It makes Yotsuyu laugh, though. She can hear the music just as well, and although she'd rather not present herself for that, she may just skulk around the edges of the dances to at least have a look at such. It might serve her well in the future, if the school itself should ever choose to have a dance or some such thing.

"Do enjoy yourself! I shall see you around, I am certain." And with that, she'd lose herself in the crowd as well.

[darkenedmoon]

"Quite possibly, he is. I am sure there are those who ride here, but even going into town there is quite the press of people. Though if Obsidian is your warhorse, I am certain he is trained to be quite the solid beast." In more ways than one, though Yotsuyu would not have been attempting humor, here.

"Then our worlds parallel in that way, as well." She would never want to run into a morbol, for example, or a dhole or even an Ebisu catfish. The morbol was likely the worst, though.

"Taller," Yotsuyu agreed, raising an arm to its full height above her head. "And that was just the rounceys--the destriers trained for Roegadyn were even larger."