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

[logdates]

Heh, well...

[Peridot isn't sure just how to explain how it all works to someone who isn't familiar with Gems. And honestly? She's not entirely sure she'd want to if she did know. She doesn't want to risk seeming less impressive to Orisa. She's never been admired like this before, except... Maybe by herself. This is nice.]

Thank you.

[She's blushing faintly, her cheeks tinged green, as she continues with a level of humility she didn't know she possessed.]

But I could say the same about you. I mean, someone like you wouldn't be very common where I'm from. I guess it all depends on persepctive.

[stillnewatthis]

[Orisa practically radiates cheer of her own, delighted as she is.] The best part about this journey is meeting all these new people! Especially you, Peridot!

[logdates]

Heh, well... Yes, of course.

[Because the humility can only go so far. Still...]

It has been nice to meet everyone. You most of all.

[stillnewatthis]

Oh!

[A thought occurs to Orisa, so startling she rears back slightly as her eyes whirl, then click to bright green.]

Are we friends?

[logdates]

[Peridot gives a concerned gasp as Orisa's eyes whirl, then a sigh of relief at the question.

When she really hears the question, though, it gives her pause. Peridot is still learning what friendship means, but she does now know it's something she wants to have - and maybe something she's earned the right to have.

So, after a pause:] Yeah! Yes, we're friends. Absolutely!

[stillnewatthis]

Wonderful! [Both hand and fusion driver come up as if this is a triumph!] I have never had a friend before! You are my first!

[logdates]

It is, isn't it?

[Wait, no, something about that seems wrong. She does a little double take.]

How am I your first friend? You're nice and so cool!

[stillnewatthis]

Efi is my creator. Although in many ways she acts as a friend to me, the relationship is different enough that I do not think the word applies.

[That's a satisfactory answer, right?]

[logdates]

Oh! Can you only apply one label to a given relationship?

[She's asking very genuinely. After all, there's a lot about this that Peridot is still learning.]

[stillnewatthis]

[Orisa has to consider this, because it requires a deeper scan into her programming than she usually takes. She falls mostly motionless, save for the occasional whirls of her eye-shields when they rotate.]

Some labels appear to be superseding ones. For example, if you are my friend, you are also "someone I know", so I no longer need to apply that label to you. In addition, Efi must occasionally behave towards me in ways that a friend would not. It is closer to being a parent.