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]

Something about being muddy, I guess? Which I don't know how they expect us not to, it's storm central outside.

[He huffed one last bit of temper out, then sighed and glanced along at the robot.]

I definitely don't think it was anything you did on purpose. The golem's just gotten a little... too into what it does, I guess.

[And maybe they can both get away while it's trying to find other students to clean. Hmm.]

[stillnewatthis]

Ignorance of the law is no excuse. I must update my protocols to better conform with expectations.

[Right now, escape is not on Orisa's mind. If the golem has detained her, she is being a bad robot, clearly; so thinks her fairly young mind.]

[scattered_rose]

[See, he's conflicted. He completely agrees with the "Ignorance of the law is no excuse" sentiment, but at the same time his pride's been wounded. In the end, he decides to go for a hopefully more neutral response.]

Well either way, hopefully the weather'll settle out and the golems will settle down because of it.

[stillnewatthis]

You believe the weather is affecting their behavior? [This is a possibility she hadn't considered before, and Orisa perks up slightly, her lowered eyeshields whirling into a more curious configuration.] I did not realize magic could be subject to electromagnetic interference!

[scattered_rose]

I'm not sure it's the weather directly, but... [He thought about that a moment.] I guess that could be plausible. I know in my world magic can do damn near about anything, who knows what it could do here.

[stillnewatthis]

If that is the case, our detainment is unlawful! [Orisa springs to a stand very abruptly, a consequence of her legs being folded but her feat still on the ground. Her quad eyeshields shift upwards, briefly form crosses, then snap into a determined look.] We must stop this miscarriage of justice!

[scattered_rose]

[He scrambles to his feet after her, briefly stumbles on the edge of his cloak caught under one foot, then recovers and works on straightening it.]

And how do you propose we do that?

[stillnewatthis]

This is my duty.

[If that isn't an answer, the way she lifts her right arm should be -- since said right arm is a massive fusion driver, which hums with green energy as she engages its reactor to charge its ammunition banks.]

[scattered_rose]

[Aaaannnnd here comes to the alarm because WAIT WHAT]

Whoa, hold on! I don't think that's a good idea-

Wouldn't it cause them to react even worse??

[He may not know her skills specifically but he can still recognize a charging weapon when he sees one. (He'd be a pretty piss poor Sentinel if he couldn't)]

[stillnewatthis]

[And it really, really isn't subtle.]

If this thing is assaulting and waylaying innocent children, it must be stopped regardless of its reaction. No harm should come to children!

[Her programming is very specific on that point!]