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

[nomoremistergneissguy]

Okay. Louie it is. [He nods.]

Yeah, I agree with that. I mean some things are a bit like home, but just off enough to be disconcerting--but this spell...yeah.

It's slowing down, but it's still pretty bad. I'm not sure I'll give this sort of thing another go. [But here, Cliff gives a sort of lopsided grin.]

Safer for my sanity that way, I think!

[talkyourwayout]

We do have magic where I'm from, but it's not all over the place like it is here. Also, we don't have people like you. You human guys, I mean.

[Louie thinks for a moment before going on, more to himself than anything else.]

I think being the only Duck here is the biggest change.

[He's referring to his surname, not his species, though that's perhaps unclear.]

Anyway, yeah, I'd avoid it when you can. I mean, this stuff can't be the only way we get home, right?

[nomoremistergneissguy]

Yeah, same here. It follows rules! I mean. Rules that are more clear than they are here, I guess.

[Yeah, the Duck name isn't quite clear, but Cliff nods anyway.] We don't have folk like you and Webby on my world either, but I guess that's one of the reasons it's interesting here.

[He makes a face, then.] I hope it's not the only way to get home! My mom knew how to make portals...though most of them didn't tear holes through the dimensions, but it could be done...I wasn't the type of mage to know how to do it, though.

[Cliff does sound disappointed in that fact.]

[talkyourwayout]

Wait, you mean you were a wizard or whatever back home, too?

[Louie thinks back, but doesn't remember meeting anyone else who can make that claim here. Not off the top of his head, anyway. Oh, V. But the novelty of trolling V had worn off fairly quickly.

And he does catch on to that disappoint, which is highly relatable for Louie. He's definitely the least impressive one is family. Even compared to Uncle Donald, when one looked at the past. But... He does have a certain skillset, and it always helps him to remember that, so...]

But I bet you could do other cool stuff! Did any of your mage magic carry over?

[nomoremistergneissguy]

Not yet. Mostly 'cause I'm not a mage mage. I have a brother and a sister who are, but I took after my dad. At home I was what they called an elementalist. I could control earth.

[Though he pauses at that, and glances down, looking over at the marble sphere spinning calmly nearby.] Though it's kinda neat, they gave me a familiar made of rock here. His name's Rounder. He's not from my world, but I kind of feel like he's a little bit of home, even if he's only kinda a call back.

[A little more thought.] And Discovery comes a little easier, probably because I was used to making things out of earth and rock and stuff like that. But it's specifically stuff I already sort of know?

[talkyourwayout]

Control earth, huh? I think that's pretty cool.

[Louie follows Cliff's gaze to Rounder, and he gives a little chuckle.] That's your familiar? I wouldn't have guessed that's what he is. I got a rat, and he's... Well, just a rat, really.

[An offended squeak from the pocket of Louie's robes.]

Anyway, it sounds like you have some advantages to adapting to things here. And that's good!

[nomoremistergneissguy]

Hey, rats are kind of cool! But yeah, that's him. He doesn't look like a whole lot, but I think that's cool, too. Someone thinks he's a yard ornament, and he gets to listen in on all sorts of conversations and stuff.

[Cliff actually didn't encourage that sort of thing, but hey, if it happened, why not make the most of it, right? Rounder, for his part, sprouted a hand and flipped Cliff the bird.]

He does that. He got mistreated by one of his old masters, and I think he's trying to see how far he can push me before he pisses me off.

[Luckily for Rounder, Cliff had a bunch of older siblings and a twin who picked on him, so that only made him chuckle.]

[talkyourwayout]

[Louie shrugged, though he liked hearing that someone thought rats were cool. He'd been starting to feel like he'd got the short end of the stick.]

His name's Cash. And that... That could really come in handy.

[The wheels are turning in Louie's head already, so he doesn't bother expressing his confusion over that particular gesture. Hi, he's like ten.

But the concept behind Rounder's behavior definitely registers in Louie's mind, because he can kind of relate. It's not like he's used to being mistreated, but looked over? Sure, by people who just saw him and his brothers as a "set", and by virtue of being the least interesting in the Duck family. And he combats that not by just not trying to be impressive, and by acting like he doesn't care.]

Huh, well... You seem cool with him. So I guess you guys got matched well.

[nomoremistergneissguy]

Yeah, I'm the youngest brother in my family, so it's like...I'm used to being pushed around a bit. Heh. [It's not like Cliff isn't annoyed by that, he's just learned, at the wise old age of just-turned-17, to pick his battles more. Some of the stuff with family isn't worth it. Especially since if someone picked on him, his siblings would cheerfully jump the perpetrator.

Well, if Cliff needed the help.]

And yeah, I agree. He doesn't bother me, really, and I feel bad for him, so it's like...if he does push too far I'll probably be nicer first. Ask him to cut it out. It's not like he asked for a crappy master or to be treated like junk. He got a short straw.