Let The Games Begin

[magicademymods]

February Event and Intro Log Orientation Week/Magic Mayhem The campus of Diatu Magicademy stretches out before you, confused and chaotic and surging with energy. Where are you headed? To your dorm or suite, to get settled? Maybe you need some food now? Wherever you head off to as your first stop, you have to deal with the snow. Helpful or proud students are passing out various magical remedies to get you where you need to be -- umbrellas with a nasty tendency to dump snow directly onto other people nearby, an iron tube that projects fire but appears to have no off switch, snowshoes that keep you slightly too high off the snow and thus provide no friction for stopping... Familiar Follies Familiars do not harass or harm each other as a rule -- but that doesn't mean they have no pecking order, and the week of Orientation finds them all jockeying for status and position as suits them. This can take the form of pranks, displays, competitions, or simple physical assertiveness towards each other. The goal is simply to be seen as superior by the student body. New wizards especially may find themselves surprised at this behavior of their familiars... 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 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.) Furthermore, they request to perform a few spells on you for testing purposes. It is, quite regrettably, possible that if you consent to this testing, you will come away with a temporary side effect -- a slight change of hair color, traveling two steps for every one you take, one hand moving about a second behind the arm it should be attached to, or being ridden by a penguin. No need to worry, these changes won't last more than a day! Wonders Await Diatu Magicademy is open to you in all its glory. Have fun!

Comments

[delusionsofleveilleur]

[Alphinaud listens intently, and he is quite amazed at the similarities. He does already know of the existence of other realms quite similar to his own... The arrival of the Warriors of Darkness taught them as such. However, he still doesn't know much about the specifics. Still, he has to wonder if Eleven's realm is one of them.]

While there is none in history by that name that I know, our records are hardly proof of all that has ever happened. Sometimes, it manifests itself in faerie tales— once perceived as children's stories, some of these have had at least some basis on actual events.

If not our realm, however, it is possible that there is some sort of link between ours. By now, I would not be as surprised by such a revelation.

[bearshermark]

[Eleven grapples with that idea, not sure whether or not he'd prefer it to be true]

Well, they say that at the end of his life, Erdwin ascended the heavens and became a star, where he watches over Erdrea to this day.

[His eyes scan the sky for it now, although it's much too bright and clouded over to see anything]

Erdwin's Lantern is a bright red star that never moves. I know you said Yggdrasil doesn't exist in your realm, but is there anything like Erdwin's Lantern?

[delusionsofleveilleur]

[Alphinaud notices that he looks towards the sky, and so he follows his gaze towards it. A bright red star...]

While I have some knowledge of the skies, I am no Astrologian. [He says this with a smile that indicates a jest, though he realizes the term would be lost on his friend.] However, there was once something similar.

It was one of our realm's two moons, which one day turned red and began to grow larger, threatening to plummet into the land. It was called Dalamud, and as it turns out, there was more to it than met the eye. It was also the cause of the calamity which claimed the lives of the Warriors of Light.

Similar, and yet much unlike your own.

[bearshermark]

[He winces. More unlike than like, he thinks. But he's thought of something else- also entirely unrelated to what they set out to do]

All right then, what is the source of life in your realm, if you don't have a World Tree?

[delusionsofleveilleur]

I believe you are referring to the Lifestream. All life is composed of aether, and at its expiration, it is returned to the currents. Aether is unique to each individual; in other words, it is the soul that fills our bodies.

[bearshermark]

The Lifestream.. [Cyclical, like Yggdrasil. Aether isn't a concept he's familiar with, but it sounds intriguing]

Is there a holy site where it flows from? Wherever that would be, would be the most like Yggdrasil.

[delusionsofleveilleur]

[Alphinaud raises a hand to his chin as he considers the question. A holy site... The source of the Lifestream. He believes that it is like to exist, but if its location is known at all...

!!

It is then that he recalls the time his friend was lost, adrift in the Lifestream. He and his comrades had petitioned the elder Seedseer for help, and she in turn asked the elementals of the forest for their aid. The place where this was carried out was—]

The Guardian Tree! [His eyes widen, not expecting to find another link so similar. While a landmark of great import to Gridania, he hadn't likened it to something so crucial to the realm itself. Still... It does indeed have a strong connection.] I do not believe it to be the source itself, but it is perhaps a tributary.

[bearshermark]

Thank the Goddess.

[His fingers fly over his heart just as an intense wave of relief floods through his entire body. He nearly feels unsteady with it]

That's.. A new leaf blooms on Yggdrasil's branches with every life that enters the world, then falls when it dies. I can't tell you how much it means that She might exist in some form in your realm. Perhaps they are connected, after all.

[delusionsofleveilleur]

[He smiles and nods, happy that the information has provided comfort to his friend. He's still uncertain if there is a true link between the worlds and these trees, but the similarities are certainly worth bearing in mind and researching further, should the opportunity be provided.

Still, the expression on Eleven's face now seems to warrant that something has happened to the Tree. Alphinaud, too, knows well the weight of an entire realm in the balance.]

I can but provide the information that I have at my disposal. However, we are never without hope. Sometimes the answers we seek lie off the trodden path.

[bearshermark]

[It's surprisingly insightful advice for the storm of emotions warring within him.

Never without hope.

He has to believe that, although he's just beginning to learn how painful it is- how terribly fragile.]

Thank you. [He catches sight of Alphinaud's map and flusters] I'm sorry, I've been distracting you.

[delusionsofleveilleur]

No, not at all. [In fact, he closes the book for now. It needn't be a complete catalog on the first foray, after all.] Mayhap I shall attempt to capture the landscape another time. Memories should first be made with experience. I am rather enjoying our conversation, and in that regard, having a task at all between it is the real distraction.

[bearshermark]

[He feels bad, but can hardly insist otherwise, so he shrugs and decides to take it as the invitation it seems to be]

You were telling me about your journey?