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

[scattered_rose]

That's good at least, right? Being bitten's a pain in the neck. [Get it? Because he's a- eh, nevermind. Not like he meant to put it quite like that anyway.] In my experience, animals tend to be pretty curious, I guess the same must extend to familiars.

[They are supposed to be super intelligent, right? He watched Arthur a moment more, then brought around his backpack enough to offer a hand down to the bat.]

C'mon, Primrose. [When the feet detached and went to his finger instead, he held the hand out so Arthur, or owner, could see better.]

[pawper]

Yeah, for sure!

[Sorry was that a joke, she's a little too dense to catch on. But she does lean in a bit, curiosity rising up to eclipse everything else — scarcely noticing how Arthur mimics the gesture all on his own, though he's polite enough not to try and stand on his hind legs for an even closer look.]

So her name's Primrose? Gosh, that's a pretty name. [A nod to her own companion, now blinking much more animatedly.] This guy's Arthur.

[scattered_rose]

Thanks; yeah, I thought it pretty fitting. [He smiled, watching as Primrose stretched wings out with a yawn and then folded them back in.] Nice to meet you, Arthur.

[Then, with an amused noise after a moment, glanced up to his fellow student.]

You too. My name's Daniel.

[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?

[scattered_rose]

Yeah, arrived not too long ago.

[He's going to let Primrose back to his backpack, where she carefully picks her way along to a pouch where she'll tuck herself in. D'aww.]

Still getting my bearings I guess, but when in doubt, research.

[He waved a hand at their surroundings.]

And I found myself with a little downtime so... here I am.

[pawper]

That's a good plan, yeah.

[It's not an impulse she can readily understand, but clearly that just means Daniel is super smart and belongs in a place like this. And so agreeing with him is easy, the reasons why blithely accepted as simple fact.]

I just had an essay to work on, myself. [A sigh that tries to be lighthearted but instead ends up sounding a lot more frustrated than she had ever intended to reveal.] Something about the first people to really study Thaumaturgy......you wouldn't happen to know where I could find a good book about that, would you? I've been looking around, but no luck so far.

[If he squints, he can make out "Founders of Thaumaturgy" written in bold lettering across the spine of her book. It's just upside down, obviously.]