January Event Log

[magicademymods]

January Event Log An Undoubtedly Universal Holiday For All Worlds It has come to the faculty's attention that many of the Sundered are accustomed to some sort of holiday around this time of year, corresponding to the solstice or around thereabouts. To that extent, in the hopes that you all will be more comfortable and happy while stuck here in the Tenscore Kingdoms, they've secretly worked on preparations and planning for just such a holiday here in the Magicademy. Let us, then, commence... The Day of Fireflies. The magical holiday where we all gather and give thanks to the magic fireflies who gave us an eternal flame, that we might survive the cold winter nights! (It turns out the faculty's main adviser on what the holidays are like was Spyro.) Fireflies dance around the academy, bringing warmth and light wherever they shine. The buildings have been decorated in long strips of pollen and nectar to attract the bugs, so that they light the edges and corners in celebration of their presence. A giant firefly balloon hovers over the Great Hall, periodically causing havoc with the delivery airships. Someone magicked up a great tree with multicolored, shimmering needles. Occasionally a golem that looks to be an animated skeleton in a suit shows up and attempts to steal the holiday, giving the students a chance to merrily repel it with a barrage of snowballs; this represents a creature called the Nightmare, which apparently is a part of the holiday legacy as they understand it. Welcome to the magical winter holiday of Diatu. Good luck. The Other Side of We I)n the spirit of hope and togetherness and a cheap laugh (though only Cam Birony admits the third reason), the faculty have prepared special Modification circles for the students to use. One person stands in the Base circle, and then a friend steps into the Shape circle. The one who steps into the Shape circle will then assume the very species of the person in the Base circle! Now at last you can experience what it's like to be a dragon, a duck, a human, a furry, and a -- is Tyzias even a troll any more? Who the heck knows? Of course, these spells are very new and very experimental, so use at your own risk. You might accidentally get stuck in the form longer than you expect, swap bodies with the person in the Base circle, change partially only, turn strange colors, or turn into a badass dragon. Wait, Why Would We Turn Into Badass Dragons? Because the first test subject for Modification was none other than the legendary, half-mythical dragon Ire -- the Scourge of Gaole, the only dragon in the history of history itself to hold any sympathy for humanity, and occasional penpal of some Sundered students. The great Ire is now only the size of Spyro or so, which clearly troubles him greatly, but nonetheless he is available for you all to talk to! Ask him your questions! Throw snowballs at him! Throw snowballs at him that have questions written on them! This is your chance! Nothing Coold Possibley Go Wrong Classes are starting up again, the campus is bitter cold, and life goes on. It's almost like this is some sort of wildcard prompt.

Comments

[holdyourhorns]

To that response, Spyro can only shrug.

"I'm sure it'll wear off soon." Maybe soon enough to get Ire on two legs for the first time in his ancient life. "The celebration's nice," he adds semi-awkwardly. "A bit of it is new..."

Nevertheless. "But come on, let's go grab some grub while you can still fit in the Great Hall...!"

[magicademynpcs]

"This is all very new." Ire sounds grumpy, but then again, Ire always sounds grumpy. It just seems to be part of his nature. "And I certainly never imagined I would be around humans in any capacity. Are you certain this is safe?"

For them, of course. Ire would not permit them to harm him.

[holdyourhorns]

Well, it's not like Spyro was informed of how long their shapes would hold at minimum, but he can see how it would be pretty catastrophic if the elder dragon suddenly returned into his true size without warning or a way to delay it.

"Okay, I really don't know how soon this might wear off so... I'll go in to get some food for us and be right back."

Plus that leaves plenty of time for anyone else to bother Ire for questions, a dragon transformation, or even throw snowballs. And Spyro trods off to do exactly that.

[magicademynpcs]

"I was worried about them!"

Ire settles down to wait, muttering about 'young whelps' and other such things that sound as if he wants people off his law.

[holdyourhorns]

And eventually, Spyro returns with two large plates of food as promised. They're both predominately loaded with slices of various roasted meats and a hearty barbeque rib bone or two, but there are also grapes, cuts of melon, and bread with cheese.

Forget vegetables.

He sets one plate in front of Ire and then hands over a fork. Time to tuck in. "So what do you do when you're not reading letters or writing one?"

[magicademynpcs]

Ire's expression, on receiving these treats, is quite comical. The elder dragon rationally knows that things would appear different at this size, and yet seeing such everyday things so large is really a mind-melter.

"I sleep, and I watch," he says absently, reaching out to poke a melon slice with one claw. That feels so much different than he would have thought.

[holdyourhorns]

"Some life. I know public opinion about dragons has been pretty shaky, but this isn't the first party you've ever been invited to, is it?"

Certainly, a far cry from the level of glory and recognition Spyro enjoys back home.

"Was there anything else in dragon culture here besides... uh... shoving around other creatures to brag how powerful and superior they were?"

[magicademynpcs]

"We had a civilization, boy. Stronger and greater than you can imagine. These humans and their factions, their squabbling... they can't ever hope to arrive at the heights we did. And so much of what we built, they destroyed."

Sympathetic to humans as Ire might be, he still thinks of them as lesser.

[holdyourhorns]

"I think it's sadder that you were the only one human history thinks was worth saving. No eggs, no hatchlings?"

Enough to make Spyro a lot less interested in his meal.

"Because if you really think they all deserved something that harsh... it sounds like they had a different idea of what it means to be a dragon."