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

[darkenedmoon]

"No, no, your appearance is quite normal! You mean...you feel normal, as well? You are not seeing things? Visions of your home or your past?"

She looked more anxious than anything else, as if he might be in some sort of danger. Well, perhaps not true danger (as it meant for him), but Yotsuyu had already had to play damage control with the researchers' spells in the recent past. She was in no hurry to repeat the experience with someone she actually knew and liked.

Though she seemed to have made more acquaintances out of it, so it was not a total loss.

[bearshermark]

Slowly, his fingers fell from his face. He didn't feel anything odd, and if Yotsuyu didn't see anything, then he probably was fine.

Eleven considered her question a moment, then briefly checked the back of his hand. The mark wasn't glowing. He shook his head.

"No- thank Yggdrasil. I think I'm all right. ..Is that what usually happens?"

[darkenedmoon]

"One person I encountered had physical changes happen." She wasn't about to go into details about what they were, or who they had happened to. If it wasn't being bandied about the school yet, Yotsuyu owed the victim her silence.

"The other was practically trapped in visions of her homeland, seeing things that were not there, and attacking randomly. I stepped in and talked her down and back to rationality."

Yotsuyu wasn't given to much jocularity as a rule, and she was very serious now. She knew Eleven wasn't particularly fond of being smothered, and she truly was not making an attempt to do so, but she had promised his protector that she would at least attempt to keep an eye on him, and anything to do with the researchers tended to worry her at the best of times. That he would submit himself to them...

"I would...kindly ask you to take a care, should you subject yourself to their spells again. Please."

That sort of thing did not come easy to her, but in this case, it seemed less difficult to implore him to be careful.

[bearshermark]

His face burned, staring hard at the floor. He wanted to protest, but instead felt suddenly very foolish. If the nature of those visions had shown him Yggdrasil again, he would have..

Eleven exhaled slowly, then nodded.

"Sorry, I.. I know some people want to go home. Hendrik too, probably. But you're right, I can't afford to lose myself to visions. ..I'll be more careful."

[darkenedmoon]

"I do not, but I am...not quite like the others, I suppose, either." And though she would not actually speak the words, with what little she's learned of Eleven himself, Yotsuyu could not blame him if he was not in a great hurry to return to his world, either.

"Eleven, I am certain you had the best intentions in mind. I am not trying to chastise you." If anyone could, or should, that would be Hendrik. "I just want you to have a care, all right?"

She has no plans to reveal anything to Hendrik, either. It might be against the spirit of their agreement, but clearly Eleven was contrite, and she was not the type, now, to grind anyone beneath her heel.

[bearshermark]

"I understand. Thank you for caring about me."

Eleven scrubbed at his face, feeling suitably chastised despite her will. One day, he would stop making careless mistakes.

He glanced up and shifted in place. "..I'll return when Yggdrasil wills it, and not before. But I hope the rest of us get a choice in doing so."

[darkenedmoon]

Yotsuyu gave him a nod, and a slight smile, before patting his shoulder gently. She did not want him upset, had not meant to make him so. She was just...concerned. For his own sake, not because she felt as if she owed his protector anything. Though she did.

"I do not know if I will, but there are many things that are preferable to me here than where I am from. If anything, I would like choice. But if you are successful and return home someday, I shall miss you."

[bearshermark]

He smiled, touched by the sentiment.

"I don't know if it would be possible, but if- when- I restore Yggdrasil, I could pray for a leaf on your behalf. Maybe then She would grant you leave to come to ours."

[darkenedmoon]

Her eyes widened. Yotsuyu truly was not certain how to respond to that...but she was truly honored that Hendrik's young charge clearly thought much of her in such a short time.

"Well. You may certainly try, yes? If nothing comes of it, than I am in no worse condition than I was before, I suppose. But...thank you, Eleven. I am...honored by your regard."

Though she had to steel herself inwardly, a bit. It would not do to tear up in the middle of a school hallway.