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

[outofyourshadow]

[She nods again, one hand keeping hold of him, as if needing something to keep her tethered to reality.]

[puzzlers]

[ the flight to the dorms doesn't take long and eventually they arrive, peregrin giving a muffled roar to let them know they've arrived. he kneels down to make it easier for them to get off and the kaiba looks to the door, which is sealed by a math problem. oh boy. ] Does this ever get annoying when you're just trying to get in?

[outofyourshadow]

[She seems to have calmed down even just during the short trip to the dorms, so she manages a faint laugh at that as she nods.]

It's...a real pain.

[puzzlers]

[ he laughs along with her, taking a few tries to get it. ] Alright, we're he- [ and there's another math problem because there's another door. just stares. ]

[outofyourshadow]

[Finally wiping the last of her tears dry, she sighs.]

I hate this place.

[puzzlers]

There's definitely a lot not to like. [ don't mind him trying to get this lock undone. it doesn't take nearly as long, but he's still very obviously frustrated with it. ] There's no way to get in here without doing this? God forbid you're tired or you get hit in the head. [ finally they're in! ]

[outofyourshadow]

[She snorts.]

I know, right? Or if math just isn't your strong suit in general. Sometimes I wait for another student to come in, or just stay with a friend in her dorm.

[puzzlers]

I honestly can't say I blame you. This is not what I'd want to deal with when I want to get back in the dorm. [ he steps aside to let her pass. ] Are you feeling any better? Did you want me to get you anything else? Or stick around for a bit?

[outofyourshadow]

[As she steps inside, she hesitates for a moment.]

...Y-Yeah, I think I'm okay.

[Now that the spell's wearing off, she's mostly just embarrassed about what happened.]

You don't...have to stick around if you've got other things to do, though.

[The fact that she wouldn't mind if he stayed, though, went unspoken.]

[puzzlers]

I'm glad. I hope they stop asking for volunteers in the future. Like, I get that they have no real other way to test these things, but they need to be more careful. [ he shakes his head and follows her inside. ]

If you wanted to take your mind off things I can show you this card game I learned in town. It's actually pretty cool.

[outofyourshadow]

Seriously. Or at least pay us or something.

[Though honestly, she doubts any amount of money is worth what she just went through.

Still a bit hesitant at first, she then nods. It couldn't hurt, and she'll take any distraction right now.]

Sure. That sounds all right.

[puzzlers]

Something would be better than nothing.

[ he takes a seat in their lounge and removes his cards from his deck box. spreads them out on the table and starts explaining the rules. the cards come to life as he uses them too, which is neat. ] Think you got it? I only have the one deck right now, but we can just split it and play.

[outofyourshadow]

[Seeing the cards come to life as actually pretty cool, and she did her best to keep track of the rules.]

I think so. Might as well give it a shot.

[puzzlers]

We can go slow and if you have any questions just let me know!

[ he shuffles his own cards and draws a small hand, because they're both playing at half capacity. lena does surprisingly well for her first time and watching the cards come to life is what yugi really likes about the game. it reminds him of duel monsters and the holo tech kaiba made to enhance the game. ]

So what do you think?

[outofyourshadow]

[Seeing the monsters come to life was actually pretty awesome, and it certainly distracted her from other things.]

That was actually kinda cool. Where'd you get these cards?

[puzzlers]

I know. I'm kind of in love with this game. I found out about it in town and there are a couple shops that sell them! ...but I don't have any money, so I haven't been able to get more.

[outofyourshadow]

Hmm...Yeah, that'd be a problem.

[And who has time to work a job?]

So are they like trading cards? Some are worth more depending on how rare they are?

[puzzlers]

Yeah. You can definitely trade them and, hm, maybe I should see if I have any super rares. I'll have to head back into town and have them looked at. But, yeah, definitely.

[outofyourshadow]

[She'd never really been much for trading cards like that. But this game was still pretty fun.]

Maybe you can battle for more cards. Like, "if I win, you have to give me a card" kinda thing.

[puzzlers]

We used to do that back home. An ante. I... I don't know how I feel about that though. It was a rule in a tournament I played in, that you had to give up your rarest card, but all of my cards are special... but I suppose that's definitely an option.

[outofyourshadow]

Well, so you just need to make sure you don't lose, so you can keep all your cards.

[This is said in a slight teasing tone.

...are they good enough friends to do that?]

[puzzlers]

That's kind of what I'm worried about, haha. I don't think I'm good enough to keep all of my cards, but maybe if we practice I'll get better.

[ he certainly thinks so. ]

[outofyourshadow]

Hey, practice makes perfect, right?

[Work hard, eat right, other platitudes, blah blah.]

And hey, at least if you practice with me, I won't take your cards.

[Mostly because she'd probably still be using half his deck anyway.]

[puzzlers]

[ he stifles a chuckle. ] Exactly.

I was actually a game designer back home and I'd thought about trying to do that here too. Is there anything you look for in a game?

[outofyourshadow]

A game designer, huh? That's pretty cool. To be honest, though, I...never really played many games growing up.

["Growing up."]