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

Peridot | Steven Universe

[logdates]

Orientation Week/Magic Mayhem
[Peridot is over the moon about those snowshoes. Sure, they're not the most practical things... But they reach higher than the substitute limb enhancers Steven had given her, back home! She's far too excited to be tall(er) again, and in her giddy mucking about through the snow, it's all too easy for the Gem to slip and fail to catch herself.

Someone else does, though - whether it's intentional or not. Oops.]

...Ugh.


Familiar Follies
Cornelius, stop trying to light the other familiars on fire!

[Oh god make him stop. Seriously, Peridot has no idea how to handle this foot-tall flame and his displays of fire - displays that he intentionally brings very close to any other familiar that wanders by. And some non-familiars that he may mistake for the real thing.]

orientation. herp.

[intellectualstrategist]

[ peridot can bet her gem butt it's not intentional. ] Just dropping in? [ though she might sound somewhat amused she's not, something the tick of her brow speaks to. though she considers dumping peridot on her ass she refrains, not interested in making an enemy in the first minute of her first day. she sets her down and folds her arms, her eyes lifting to a couple of the other students using the moon snowshoes. ]

Not a fan of the snow or something? It's not that bad.

[logdates]

[Peridot can't help thinking, in the back of her mind, that most humans she's met aren't this intimidating. She doesn't really think of the fact that she's only met three humans so far. Regardless, she keeps it together enough to cast an unimpressed look at her unintentional hero.]

The point isn't to avoid the snow, really. It's about increasing my stature.

[intellectualstrategist]

Not the most reliable method out there. It seems like most of the stuff getting passed around is crap. [ ok, maybe not crap per say, but it's not all working as intended. or maybe it is. she shouldn't be surprised the newbies are being hazed. sigh. ]

Just invest in a pair of platform shoes or something. [ ... ] But who cares about being tall. There's nothing much doing up here.

[logdates]

[Peridot can't argue that point - but she can ignore it, with a disgruntled little sound. She's not one to admit when she's been foolish, after all.]

It's not about what there is to do up there, or whatever. [She sighs.] But size and status are connected. I guess humans are kind of different about it... Maybe, I don't really know.

Familiar Follies

[gender_neutral]

Oh for the power to use Bugsby's snow retrieving hand... Curse this utter lack of arcane energies. It was like being depleted of all spell slots and trancing had not helped. V was not a happy camper. So when Willard saw the flaming familiar, V suddenly had a Dragonturtle. Sort of. Instead of a mighty beast of the deep, Willard now resembled a large tortoise with hastily thrown together costume bits to try and make himself look more ferocious.

Mostly what he was trying, however, was V's patience.

However the most disappointingly impressive bit came when Willard tried to use the Dragonturtle's steam breath.... and mostly just spat out gouts of water in the general direction of Cornelius....

[logdates]

Augh!

[A protective instinct Peridot hadn't realized she had kicks in, and she jumps between Willard and Cornelius, resulting in a very wet, very grumpy Gem.]

Can't you control that?

[That's... Not hypocritical at all...]

[gender_neutral]

"Can you not control your own?" V asked, a brow raising. Vaarsuvius was not one to balk at pointing out hypocrisy.

[logdates]

Peridot glared at V, crossing her arms. "If I could, I'd be doing that!"

She took a deep breath, to try and calm herself. "Clearly we need to keep them separated."

Familiar Follies

[woo_oo]

[SNAKE DOES NOT LIKE THIS - it slithers as fast as possible to return to her mistress... who has her hands clasped together, eyes glittery at this display.]

Wooow, yours can breathe fire? That's so cool!

[logdates]

He breathes fire. And throws fire. He generally does a lot with fire.

[She sighs wearily.]

It's pesky.

[woo_oo]

Does it require oxygen like breathing, or does he summon it, or is able to create fire out of a whole new method?

[This isn't annoying, right?]

[logdates]

[She'll perhaps be annoyed soon enough, but Peridot loves hearing herself talk. Especially when she gets to sound smart.]

He's a magical fire, so he doesn't seem to require oxygen - I think he summons it. At first, I thought he was just throwing parts of himself around. [He is literally made of flame, after all!] But he hasn't gotten any smaller, so...

Orientation Week/Magic Mayhem

[outofyourshadow]

[She stumbles a bit at the sudden force that knocks into her, and just barely manages to catch herself before turning to the offender.

Seeing the snowshoes, though, it's easy to figure out what happened. Still...]

Whoa...clumsy much?

[logdates]

[Peridot glares at the... Duck? Person? Things are weird here, so she writes it off easily enough. Besides, she'd rather focus on defending herself.]

I'm not clumsy! These limb enhancers are just a sorry substitute for actual Gem Technology!

[Sure, she'd loved them - until they made her look bad.]

[outofyourshadow]

[That gets an eyebrow raise.]

Sounds like a personal problem.

[logdates]

No, it's a technological problem.

Think of it like - well, what kind of technology do you have where you're from?

Orientation

[stillnewatthis]

[Never fear! A metallic hand reaches down to grasp Peridot about the waist, then pull her free of the snow. And off the ground entirely, but this things happen.]

Hello, Peridot! Are you all right?

[Orisa sounds absolutely cheerful. Why shouldn't she be? She has found her friend again!]

[logdates]

[Okay, being caught is helpful - but being lifted off the ground is not something Peridot was expecting.]

...Wow, thanks?

[But then the familiar voice greets her, and Peridot smiles.]

Orisa! I am, yes, thank you! [She pauses, though, glancing up at her newfound friend.] ...You can put me down.

[stillnewatthis]

Oh, yes, certainly. [With a careful adjustment, Orisa sets Peridot back down on her feet. For a very large and powerful robot, she is actually very gentle.] Are you excessively cold?

[logdates]

[Peridot's smile grows, and she shakes her head.]

No, I'm not cold at all. That's not something Gems have to worry about!

I'm guessing that's true for you, too, right?

Familiar Follies

[delusionsofleveilleur]

[Alphinaud has been having enough trouble trying to keep his cat familiar from picking fights and getting into all sorts of trouble. He's just been trying to get to his dormitory so that he might begin to settle in, and he had hoped that doing so would allow the cat to calm its nerves as well. Alas, it quickly pounces towards a literal flame?? Alphinaud doesn't even realize that that is a familiar as well, but he runs to try to catch his before it can get hurt.]

Topaz, come back!

[logdates]

[Peridot gasps as she sees the cat leap at Cornelius, concerned for both her own familiar and the other student's.]

Cornelius! Do your trick!

Not a trick!

[Cornelius' voice comes out in indignant crackling of flames, but despite his protest, he's soon "jumping" to the nearest lit candle on the wall.]

Stay there for now. [Peridot turns to Alphinaud.] Uh... Heh. Sorry.

[delusionsofleveilleur]

[Topaz seems displeased with the withdrawal of the flame, but Alphinaud sighs a breath of relief. With the way that it responded, both verbally and physically, it seems that the fire is indeed a familiar, as suspected. With the apology directed towards him, he realizes that she must be its master.]

No, I am grateful for your intervention. I do believe my Topaz here is eager to prove his abilities to me, but I cannot imagine that that would have ended in his favor.

[logdates]

Oh... Then you're welcome!

[Peridot admittedly looks more sheepish than proud, though. She looks at Topaz, then over to the candle that now houses her familiar.]

It probably wouldn't have, no, though I suppose his attempts to prove himself are... Admirable, if not foolish.