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

[pawper]

[It'd probably be less painful and weird to simply find a napkin and spit everything out, but instead she stubbornly swallows down the too-big mouthful until it's gone. Eventually the coughing-and-or-choking fit subsides; Lys sighs, smiling sheepishly.]

Whew! Sorry about that. [Just in case an apology was required, she's not the best at judging such things.] I'm fine, I'm fine. I was just gonna say that you're right, this is really neat!

[She gestures at the parade around them with her other hand, which is holding yet another sweetroll.]

I mean, have you ever seen anything like this before? I sure haven't!

[plusfivedex]

I'm glad you're okay. [She laughs more easily now, since she knows the other girl is alright. As she does so, she nods.] And I haven't, not really! I mean, there's street markets in Jersey City, and some events, but something this great would usually be more of a Manhattan thing!

[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?

[plusfivedex]

Well, small towns are cool, too! I mean, I can't exactly take a nature hike at home.

[She wouldn't really want to, either, but that's not the point. It'd be nice to see some pretty, nature-y sights, at least.]

And it's so hard! If only it lasted longer, you know? I wonder how often things like this go on around here...

[pawper]

I'd guess every so often....or maybe whenever they feel like it? Seems like a prosperous enough place.

[That probably has nothing to do with anything, but you know. More importantly, what Kamala said earlier finally seems to sink in properly, and Lys pauses before she can do more than think about biting into her sweetroll.]

—Wait, you don't live near nature?

[plusfivedex]

Maybe whenever, yeah. I hope so, really, because this is fun!

[Kamala looks hesitant in response to Lys' apparent confusion. She shrugs a little and shakes her head.]

Mmm, no - I mean, there's parks and everything, but...

[pawper]

But?

[Encouraging, curious. She genuinely can't imagine growing up somewhere that wasn't any farther from the wilderness than the couple steps needed to pass though a town or village gate.]

[plusfivedex]

But it's all pretty urban.

[Kamala gives a small smile, but there's a forced look to it.]

I mean, it's where I live. I don't know what somewhere else would be like, you know? Or if I'd like that.

[Her smile becomes more relaxed, and she laughs. It's not really a big deal to her, but now she's realizing that could be only because she doesn't usually give it much thought.]

It's nice that everything's easy to get to, though!

[pawper]

[She sort of just blinks at first, clearly not understanding what "urban" really means. What passes for a city in her world couldn't compare to the likes of New York — or most places in a modern, industrialized country. But if Lys knows how to do anything, it's swallow back misgivings to better move with the currents around her.

So she laughs as well, shrugging easily.]

I think that sounds like a pretty interesting place to live. Like there's always something to do, or see. Nature can be really beautiful, but a quiet life out in the country....it's not for everyone.

[A pause, then she offers her one remaining sweetroll for Kamala to take; it's the friendliest gesture she knows.]

I'm Lys, by the way. What's your name?