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

[woo_oo]

Webby raised her eyebrows, already intrigued. "And what's that?"

She thought she had gotten better at responsible lying. (You know, telling Louie that his dollar-store jewel was cursed and haunting him. That had been fun.) So maybe she'd get better at this too.

[talkyourwayout]

"Something I like to call 'healthy realism' - in other words, being aware that sometimes things aren't happening for a good reason," Louie explained, nonchalant as ever.

[woo_oo]

"... That sounds less like a lesson and more like being really depressing." So, swing and a miss, green boy.

"I'm not saying everything happens for a good reason, but isn't it better to think most things are?" With a big shrug. "It can help you get through the day when things are difficult! Thinking with a positive attitude helps out a whole bunch."

[talkyourwayout]

"Wait, what?" Swing and a miss, indeed. Depressing had not been his aim there, at all. He'd been hoping he could just help Webby understand the world a little better. It just might keep her safe.

Besides, he doesn't even understand how she manages to be so upbeat. Really, no matter what, she seems ready to take on the next challenge, and... It's just so confusing, because part of him worries about her because of that. And another part of him envies her ability to do it.

He groaned, pulling his hoodie back up. "Nevermind, I guess?"

[woo_oo]

Considering that a victory, Webby beamed, more than happy to let it drop. "Okay!" She began to walk alongside him, smile and sunshine.

"My next class isn't for a while. Wanna hang out?"

[talkyourwayout]

She just bounces back so easily, too, and a third conflicting emotion joins the concern and the envy: Admiration.

He fiddles with one of his hoodie's drawstrings, looping it around his finger. "Yeah, that sounds fun."

His next class is kind of soon, but this will definitely be a better time.

[woo_oo]

"Great!" Of course, had she known that Louie had an upcoming class, she would have pushed him towards it - which might be a reason why he's keeping mum.

"Let's go to your dorm, I wanna see what it's like!"

[talkyourwayout]

Louie weighed his options here: It'd be fun to just hang out with Webby somewhere (probably) safe, but he might not be meant to bring students from other houses over to his dorm. Then again, who cared?

"Alright," he said, laughing a bit. "I'll show you around, sure."

[woo_oo]

Stellar argument, Louie.

"Oh, this is going to be great! I can't wait!" Literally she can't - she grabbed his hand and began running.

[talkyourwayout]

Louie made a surprised sound as he was dragged, but he found his footing soon enough, and ran just a bit behind Webby. Not right by her side. Maybe she didn't need a reason to let go of his hand, you know?

"Webby, it's not going anywhere, you know!"

[woo_oo]

"But time is constantly moving!" Webby said without breaking her speed, eyes forward, even if she wasn't 100% sure where she was going.

"I want to get there and see everything before my next class!"

[talkyourwayout]

Louie chuckled at that, despite himself, and finally pushed to get ahead of her.

"Then you should at least let someone who knows where they're going take the lead."

[woo_oo]

"Oh, right!" That would be useful. "Lead away, Leader Louie!"

[talkyourwayout]

Leader Louie. He could get used to being that; being a leader and not part of the team of three.

"Okay, come on. It's this way," he nodded in the direction before heading off, and it wasn't too long before they got to the Valhudor student dorms.

[woo_oo]

Once they arrived, Webby broke off their hand-holding in order to crawl over and inspect absolutely every little thing.

"Oh, what's this? And this? Is this normal for schools? How about this? or is this a magic school only thing?"

[talkyourwayout]

Louie chuckled at her characteristic excitement.

"Alright, one thing at a time, Webby. But you won't get far asking me what's normal for a school - not a boarding school, anyway. I've never been to one of those."

[woo_oo]

She propped herself in the windowsill, kicking her legs a bit.

"Sorry, sorry... everything is just so exciting. I've always wanted to know what a school was like."

[talkyourwayout]

A wise-alec quip was on the tip of his tongue, but instead, he smiled.

"Yeah, on the way here - when I was talking to Lena and we didn't know you were in this place? I said how much you'd like this place."

She'd had so few chances to live a normal life, after all. She still didn't really, but she seemed happy with just having a social circle, now, if nothing else. And while Webby left him baffled half the time, he was happy that she could be happy. He had felt that way almost since they met.

Which was also baffling.

[woo_oo]

"Aw, did you two miss me?" She lightly teased, hopping down to be at his side again.

She was slowly, s-l-o-w-l-y, beginning to calm down, perhaps because of Louie's attitude towards it.

[talkyourwayout]

It wasn't that Louie was oblivious to his crush on Webby. He really wasn't, he was just... Kind of still in denial over the realization he'd made back home. He'd never had a crush before, and now he was finding it left him uncomfortably vulnerable.

"Well, you know... Lena hadn't seen you since-"

No, wait, that wasn't a conversation he wanted to have, either. Louie sighed.

[woo_oo]

Way to kill the mood, bro. Her smile vanished, and she looked away, pained by the memory. "Oh... yeah. I... I guess so."

Awkward. She hesitated, and then cleared her throat, trying to force the cheer back into their lives. "But! She's here now, I'm here now, you're here now, we're all here together! That's what counts!

[talkyourwayout]

Were they ignoring their heavy feelings now? That totally worked for Louie, who gave a small smile and nodded. "Right! That's the important part. And you get to finally go to a school!"

[woo_oo]

It's the McDuck family tradition - bury everything unpleasant and pretend it never existed. The healthy thing to do!

"And I finally get to go to a school with my best friends!" So, even better!