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]

[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?

[outofyourshadow]

Oh, yeah...we have way better stuff than this back home, plus magic.

[C'mon, no internet? Weak.]

But isn't it up to us to adapt and make up for the technological shortcomings?

[She's bluffing, of course, because she misses her phone.]

[logdates]

Make up for - ? No. You can't make up for technological shortcomings. It's a huge flaw.

[outofyourshadow]

[She snorts.]

True enough. Although I don't know if snowshoes count as a real technological flaw?

[logdates]

I meant in general - but anything that can be improved upon is a technological flaw.

Technology is, after all, the best way to make something better. And the quickest way.

[outofyourshadow]

But isn't an over-reliance on technology a flaw of the people who need it so much?

[In truth, she doesn't really care. She's a teenager after all. She mostly was just trying to see what buttons she could push.]

[logdates]

How can you be over-reliant on technology? It's technology! The whole point of it is to make life easier and more productive!

[Oh, Peridot has plenty of buttons to push...]

[outofyourshadow]

[Good, because it's kinda funny.]

But it's not perfect, right? Technology fails all the time. And if you're super reliant on it, and it fails, what do you do?

Or, like now when you don't have it anymore. You're just stuck, right?

[logdates]

Good technology rarely fails, actually - you're clearly not familiar with Gem technology, not that I'd expect you to be.

And I'm not stuck! I'm never stuck. I can figure this out. You'll see!

[outofyourshadow]

But if you can "figure this out", it means that you don't even need the tech in the first place.

And do you ever have to update your "Gem technology"?

[logdates]

[She really can't argue with that first point, and it absolutely infuriates her too much to even pay the second point any mind. She just stares at Lena for a moment...

And then lets out a little scream of frustration.]

[outofyourshadow]

[Game, set, match.]

Sooooo am I right?

[She knows she is, but it's always fun to hear it.]

[logdates]

Shut up.

[She's terse, but calm. It seems that the shout at least helped her vent out the anger.]

[outofyourshadow]

[She snickers.]

Well, good luck "figuring it out", then.

[logdates]

I don't need luck. I've been figuring things out for years.

[outofyourshadow]

[She shrugs.]

It's still a good thing to have. But if you're sure, then I take it back.

[logdates]

How exactly are you taking it back? I mean, it's not like you actually handed me anything.

[outofyourshadow]

[Glancing back at Peridot, she smiles.]

Wishing someone good luck is kind of like a magic all its own. You send the person positive thoughts, which can help them do whatever they're doing.

But since you don't need it, so I'm taking all my good thoughts back.

[logdates]

[Peridot is pretty sure that logic doesn't check out. However, that doesn't mean it could hurt to have the luck.]

Well... I guess I could hold onto those good thoughts for you. It sounds like you're trying to find someone to store them.

[outofyourshadow]

[It doesn't, but it made more sense to her than just wishing someone random chance, so that's what she's going with.]

...Well, if you're offering, then I suppose so.

[logdates]

Then we have a deal. I'll take care of your good thoughts.

[outofyourshadow]

[She nods.]

Perfect, thanks. Hope they help you out too.