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

[logdates]

Peridot slowly looked up at Orisa, but it took her a moment to register who she was seeing, and where she was. Once she did, she winced.

"No, I don't get stuck in loops," she said softly. "I was just..." she trailed off with a sigh. "I was just remembering something, I guess."

[stillnewatthis]

If she didn't get stuck in a loop, why did the 'pause function' command work, then? Orisa was skeptical, especially since it appeared to be a memory error, but let it drop.

"It must have been something very bad. You are crying. I did not know your body projection could even do that."

[logdates]

Peridot wiped at her eyes. Logically speaking, she knew that her past was her past. That she'd been taking steps to make up for her previous errors in judgement. Surely Orisa would understand that. It wouldn't cost her the friendship.

Still, as she went on to speak, she did so haltingly - worried how Orisa would react.

"It can... And yes, something very bad - something I did wrong."

[stillnewatthis]

"I see. That would be very a troubling memory indeed."

Orisa analyzed, her eyeshields spreading open so that the lights behind them looked like crosses, before they closed to vertical slits that rotated to horizontal.

"Did you learn from it? Did you try to put it right?"

[logdates]

Peridot nodded her agreement, and that nodding became more enthusiastic in response to Orisa's questions.

"Y-Yeah! Back with the Crystal Gems, I've been learning all the time!" she exclaimed. "It's like being brand new again, but I'm learning everything I can so I can help them, and stop the Cluster! I even stood up to Yellow Diamond to save their planet - our planet!" Her small fists punched aimlessly through the air as she spoke, and when she finished, her arms fell to her sides and she leaned against Orisa.

"...And you don't know what half of that means, because you come from somewhere totally different," she chuckled weakly.

[stillnewatthis]

"That is true!" Orisa was so cheerful in agreement of her own ignorance. "I am still new at my purpose, and have little experience. So I make mistakes. However, every mistake I make allows me to update my programming and expand my knowledge base. So by making mistakes, I learn."

Orisa crossed her fusion driver over to gently tap Peridot's arm encouragingly.

"I am sure the same is true for you! If you did not do something wrong, you would not have learned to do something right. So you should not be so hard on yourself that you cry."

[logdates]

Peridot craned her neck back so she could look up at Orisa with a smile. It was so nice to have a friend like this, because as good a friend as Steven was, and as much as she enjoyed Amethyst's company... Orisa knew what it was like to be learning.

"Wow. Thanks," she whispered, before turning around and hugging one of Orisa's legs.

[stillnewatthis]

"That is what friends are for. I am happy to help!'

Now Orisa could put her actual arm around Peridot, enough for a hug anyway. She knew what hugs were! Efi gave them to her often enough.

Life as Orisa was very different than existence as one more OR-15 out of a bunch. Orisa knew she was very lucky. In some ways, being defeated by Doomfist was the best thing that could have happened.

"Why did this memory become active?"

[logdates]

Peridot paused to consider the answer to that. What had brought that on, anyway? It hadn't even felt like a normal memory, with how vivid it had been.

"I'm not sure, almost everything else today was normal... Oh, wait!" Her expression had gone from warm and content to puzzled, and now shifted to irritated. "I was helping those stupid wizards with their research again! I'm done doing that!"

[stillnewatthis]

"That would explain it. But why are you done?" In this, Orisa did not understand the cause and effect.

[logdates]

"Because every time I help them, it goes wrong! Last month I was walking too quickly for nearly an hour!" Peridot made an angry sound, somewhere between a grunt and a growl. "I don't think they even know what they're doing!"

[stillnewatthis]

"Do you consider this going wrong?" Orisa said, thoughtfully touching one finger to where her mouth would be if she had one. "While you remembered something painful, you also realized what it meant for your growth, and we also demonstrated that we are friends. We even exchanged hugs. My analysis indicates that sufficient positive came out of this event that I would gladly undergo it myself."