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

[shiningkindness]

She continued hugging the familiar, gentle and as comforting as she could, and glanced up at Cliff.

"It seems like he's had a couple of masters before you," she said softly, loosening her hold on Rounder to let him down if he wanted to. "And the most recent one before you was...not very good."

[nomoremistergneissguy]

That made Cliff grimace. "Really?" He looked over at Rounder, who rolled carefully down to the ground--and immediately hugged Fluttershy's leg.

"Dude, I like you. I'm sorry your other master was a bag of doorknobs, but I'm going to try and work things out with you. I don't want to get rid of you and I don't think you're a nuisance or anything bad like that. I think you're pretty cool, honestly, and you've already been a big help to me. I don't think I own you or anything, but you're my familiar, okay?"

Though heavens help Rounder's old master if Cliff ever found him or Rounder ever pointed him out. Cliff didn't have a flash fire temper and never had, but this was the sort of thing that could start the slow burn to set him off. He'd have words with the guy, at the very least.

"Thank you so much for your help. I know even all the time I tell him good things isn't gonna fix everything overnight, but at least I have a better idea. We'll get through it together, but you did give me insight I really needed. I'm grateful." The smile Cliff gave her then was very, very real.

[shiningkindness]

She gently patted Rounder, then glanced back at Cliff with a small smile.

"I'm glad I could help in some way."

Then she glanced at Rounder again. "And you...I know you're worried, and we understand why, after all that's happened to you. But please...try to put more trust in your new partner. He wants to do his best for you...so you should too."

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"Me too." Cliff laughed, then. "Rounder's been great! He's just been super uncertain of me, and a bit surly when I ask him to do things, but like you said, he's been treated poorly. So I can't even be mad."

He'd be pretty upset if he'd been treated badly, then once he came back to a safe and familiar place, be shoved at some new, weird kid and basically told to suck it up and do your job. He could relate to Rounder's issue.

As for the familiar, he gave a gentle and affectionate bonk to Fluttershy's leg, then repeated the gesture with Cliff, who crouched down to rub his hand over the familiar's surface.

"It's okay, buddy. I want to be friends, but we'll take it at your pace." He looked up at Fluttershy, then. "So what's your story, now that he's no longer out of sorts?"

[shiningkindness]

She couldn't help but smile as Rounder gave him the affectionate gesture. It certainly didn't fix everything, but it was a step in the right direction.

His question had her glancing up, a bit confused. "Huh? My story?"

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"Well, yeah, I'm curious." Cliff laughed a bit at that. "Trying to make new friends and all, and you stopped and helped me. I haven't been here very long."

He shrugged a little. "I suppose it's a really abrupt way to ask. Sorry for that. But I've always sort of been blunt, I guess. My twin--younger sister--she's the talker and the charismatic one." Cliff was the one who usually hung around and nodded in all the right places while Kat talked. But he couldn't do that here.

[shiningkindness]

She blushed a bit. "O-Oh...It's okay. There's...not really much to say, though. I really love animals, and learning about all different sorts of creatures. And it just...looked like you needed help."

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"Really? I mean, I could figure out the loving animals part, checking on blue bunny there." With a gesture to the rabbit, who he's still keeping an eye on. It's still innocuous. Just blue. And it ribbits. That still sort of weirds him out.

And her care for Ballet, but then he cared about Rounder too.

"I did need help, and you gave me a lot of help! I'm really grateful for it, too. I'll have to thank you more than with words...someday." Since right now that was mostly what he could do.

[shiningkindness]

She shook her head. "N-No, it's okay...I was just happy to help."

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"Well, if you say so." Cliff's brow furrowed a little at that. Then again, she couldn't stop what she didn't know about, right? Not that Cliff would do anything mean. He just wasn't that type.

"If he's not going to disappear any time soon, I probably ought to take this guy to the familiar caretakers...maybe he'll end up someone's familiar, too?"

Not that he thought the rabbit was acting as intelligent as their familiars were, but maybe there was a training process they all went through...He had no clue! Still, it was docile as he picked it up and got back to his feet, cradling it gently and petting its ears.

"Better that than leaving him to fend for himself out here, anyway."

[shiningkindness]

"Mm, that's probably a good idea. Even if it wouldn't be a familiar, maybe they'd know what to do with him."

Honestly, she felt kind of bad for it. Part of her wanted to ask if she could take care of it herself, but she didn't want to impose.

[nomoremistergneissguy]

He just figured that the familiar caretakers were probably better outfitted to take care of a weird magical creature. Besides, they were students, and Fluttershy was already caring for Ballet.

Not that the land whale wasn't adorable and in good shape, but he didn't want to inadvertently overburden Fluttershy, either.

"I'm sure they'll take care of him. Her. It. I don't know how to tell," Cliff admitted, slightly embarrassed. "And if not, they might know how to get him to...where it came from."

[shiningkindness]

Gently reaching out and picking up the rabbit, she lets it sit in her lap as she pet it.

"...It's a girl," she replied softly.

[nomoremistergneissguy]

Cliff chuckled a little in relief at that. "Okay, good. I'm glad you know how to figure that out!"

He gave Fluttershy a fond glance at that. "You know, if they don't let you help out with the familiars already, or if you don't have enough time to...they'd probably let you at least visit her, you know? And you're so good with Ballet and Blue Bunny both, I can't see why they wouldn't let you help."

Heck, she'd even figured out what was up with Rounder! And he'd just thought that his familiar had taken a dislike to him at first--Cliff figured that could be a thing, if unlikely.

"You could come with too, if you're not busy. I mean, I wouldn't mind the company." Kat had always teased him about how he didn't know how to talk to girls.

Kat was right.

[shiningkindness]

She seemed to brighten up a bit at that, and she nodded.

"Sure. I don't mind coming along." Rising to her feet, she gently brushed off her dress. "And I hadn't thought about that, seeing if I could help with the familiars. I'll have to ask about that and see if they'd let me."

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"I don't see why they wouldn't. I mean I'm sure they have to have people in this world who raise familiars, if every wizard needs one. And as grim as this sounds, they probably don't live as long as people, even if they do probably have longer lifespans than your average critter. Which exempts familiars like him. You're probably gonna outlive me, being a rock and all!" But Cliff grins down at Rounder at that.

And for once, Rounder doesn't react with derision, but shrugs a little.

"Well, you're magic," Cliff says to the familiar, conversationally. Then, to Fluttershy, "If they need referrals, you ought to tell them to ask me. Or talk to Ballet, too. Or maybe some of your classroom teachers, I don't know." He isn't sure if this is like being a journeyman where he's from, but even he sat in on a lapidary in his realm to see how to cut gemstones.

[shiningkindness]

"I've always wondered where the familiars are that aren't bonded to a person yet," she said thoughtfully. "Like, do they have something like an animal shelter? Or a special place designated for familiars? And are all familiars born as familiars, or do they choose animals to become a familiar? And if so, what are the criteria for familiars that separates potential ones from other animals of the same species?"

She was mostly rambling to herself at this point, and seemed excited just thinking about animals and familiars and how things like that worked in this world.

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"I have no idea," Cliff admitted. "To any of that. But if you go and find out and they need more help, well, I'm good at manual labor."

He wasn't even trying to be self-deprecating there, he just knew that he was pretty strong as a guy of his size and body type went, and he knew how to be careful with heavy lifting and doing work. He'd never been afraid to help his mom dig out her garden, with or without geomancy--though the latter did make it easier.

[shiningkindness]

With a smile, she nodded. "Mm...okay."

Most people wouldn't sound so excited for manual labor like that. But Fluttershy was more than eager to work with animals again, that she didn't even mind things like cleaning up.

[nomoremistergneissguy]

He didn't really mind animals either--geomancy also made them easier to understand, and Cliff was a bit sad that he'd lost that talent.

Though nothing said he couldn't help Fluttershy. Maybe if he did that he'd actually rediscover it, or find that he had some empathy towards critters naturally. Either way, he'd find that a win-win situation.

"Okay. So...you know where this place is? I only really went there once, when I met Rounder." He got to his feet slowly, and offered Fluttershy a hand up, especially since she was still a bit occupied by Blue Bunny. Said bunny seemed to be perfectly happy where she was, though, so he wasn't inclined to take her from Fluttershy.

[shiningkindness]

Making sure she had a careful hold of the bunny, she accepted his help getting to her feet.

"No, not really...but I'm sure if we explain what happened to a teacher, they could point us in the right direction."

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"Huh, guess we maybe ought to find a teach--wait. I'm a teacher..." Grimacing at that. "Then again, it's student teaching and nothing to do with animals, I teach gemcutting."

He'd feel worse if he did have something to do with animals and didn't know where this place was.

"Back to the drawing board then, finding a teacher!"

[shiningkindness]

She blinked a bit in surprise, but then smiled at his clarification. "Oh, that must be interesting. I thought about the student-teacher thing too, but I don't know if I'd be able to stand up in front of people to teach like that."

[nomoremistergneissguy]

"Gemcutting's something I'm passionate about, at least. I should be used to be talking to people, but...uh, not really. Though I find it easy to talk to you."

Cliff shrugged at that, more than a little sheepish. "I did it mostly to try and keep out of my comfort zone, since I'm already out of it here."

[shiningkindness]

She nodded a bit. "I can understand that. It's can be hard, being out of your comfort zone, and I think it's really brave of you to try."