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

[puzzlers]

...shocking...

[ he's doing his best not to freak out, but he didn't want to think about that. not again. it was bad enough having to face it with atem and kaiba and talk through some of his feelings, but it's like the floodgates are threatening to open again. ]

I, yeah, if you wouldn't mind. Maybe we could talk about, I don't know, anything. I just need to get it out of my head.

[talkyourwayout]

Nah, I don't mind. Um...

[He's not bad at small talk, but being put on the spot always makes it a little tricky. Still, he doesn't want to waste time thinking of what to say, so he'll start with something tried and true.]

You know, I'd say I'm glad we're done with the snow, but I'm not entirely sure the rain is any better.

[puzzlers]

I think I prefer the snow too. At least it doesn't immediately make everything wet. I'm hoping this weather lets up and we finally get to see the sun for more than a few minutes at a time. [ he gives a laugh, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. ]

I know the weather's not really doing us any favors for exploring, but did you want to look around? Honestly, I'm up for anything that takes my mind off what they've just done.

[talkyourwayout]

Yeah, exactly. [Louie chuckled and gave a lazy smile up in Yugi's direction.] I know I'm a duck, but wet's not my thing either.

[There was potential risk in exploring, to be sure, but exploring with Yugi had to be safer than exploring with Webby - most things would be - and he knew he had more of that to come. So what was the harm, really?]

Sure, Yugi. Maybe we can find something new.

[puzzlers]

Heh. Maybe one or two days wouldn't be so bad, but it feels like it's nonstop.

I'm sure there's a bunch of things to be found on and off campus. Got a preference? But I hope so! [ he rubs at his eyes one last time to try and force the images from home out of his head and then takes a deep breath. ] Alright, let's do this.

[talkyourwayout]

Maybe magic attracts bad weather?

[He shrugs, keeping it casual aside from the concern in his glance up at Yugi.]

Let's go off-campus. I haven't explored that as much, yet.

[And it'll take more time, keeping Yugi's mind occupied for longer.]

[puzzlers]

Sure. Let's check out the first ring. I've been there a couple of times, but I haven't really gotten too much of a chance to explore. I got caught up in a card game, haha.

[talkyourwayout]

Card game? That sounds... Fun?

[He doesn't seem convinced of that, but it sure seems like the right thing to say if the idea is to keep Yugi in a good mood.]

Anyway, yeah, let's. I've been out there once or twice, too, but that just means we shouldn't get lost.

[puzzlers]

I promise it's more fun that it sounds.

[ he gives a laugh, appreciating how much effort he's putting it to ensuring he doesn't feel any worse than he already does. ]

You'd think, but who knows what to expect with this much magic around. [ he'll start heading towards the front of campus. ] You find anything interesting there yet?

[talkyourwayout]

I believe you.

[He doesn't, but saying he does seems like the nicer thing to do.]

Good point. But I can hope, right?

[The problem with being a duck among mostly humans is that Louie has to keep up a rather brisk pace to keep up with all the other folks and their longer legs. But he's managing.]

Well, the shops with magic stuff are pretty cool. Especially the Forged items.

[puzzlers]

[ at least yugi's on the shorter side, so louie probably doesn't have to struggle to keep up as much as he would have if he were walking alongside, oh say kaiba. ]

Oh, I don't think I checked out that shop yet. I seem to go to the same couple of places when I go into town. [ he laughs a bit sheepishly. ] I did want to check out that Zoology Foundation. Have you ever been there?

[talkyourwayout]

Zoology Foundation?

[Louie's uncertainty shows. That sounds like it just might not be the best place for him to visit, since he seems to seem very "animal" to most people here. But... He shrugs it off. It's worth a shot, right?]

Nope, I haven't been. You wanna check it out now?

[puzzlers]

I should mention it's more than that, but the name's kind of a mouth. It's actually called the The Mytho-Crypto-Archaeo-Zoology Foundation, so they study more than animals. S- Sorry about that.

[ he rubs the back of his neck sheepishly. ] But we can, assuming you'd like to. I'm trying to think about what else I saw, though I guess we don't necessarily have to stick to the first ring...

[talkyourwayout]

You don't need to be sorry. That is a mouthful, wow.

But... I gotta say, it sounds like the sort of thing we should check out.

[He remembers them talking about how strange things seem to follow them, and for Louie, at least, that seems like it'd cover the kind of things that plague his life.]

And it could be cool, so yeah, let's go.

[puzzlers]

Right. I'm not even sure an acronym would save it. [ he laughs and starts heading to the front gate. he assumes there's going to be a lot to take in there, especially with a name like that, so maybe it'll have some answers for them! and, if not, then he's sure it'll be interesting either way. ]

[ when they reach the first ring yugi tries to remember where he'd seen the building and, for some reason, it seems especially busy here today. ] It's not too far, thankfully. [ leads the way! ]

[talkyourwayout]

The McAz Foundation.

[He smiles playfully as he offers that one, and follows along. His footsteps slow a bit, however, as the crowds come into view.]

Was it like this before?

[puzzlers]

...hahaha! I stand corrected. [ he laughs, though it tapers on arrival, because he doesn't remember it being this packed out in town. was there something going on??? ] I don't think so, no. I mean, sure, there's always people here, but this is... this is... [ too much. he hears talk of bala-inlota, something he's not the least bit familiar with. ]

Have you ever heard of Bala-inlota?