April Event and Intro Log

[magicademymods]

April Event and Intro Log Plants Off The Path Green grass and radiant flower gardens bracket all the major walks on campus, and fragrant scents fill the air all around. Note the key words "major walks" there. Move off the common paths and onto 'shortcuts' or less frequented areas of the vast campus and things are quite different. Here, the plants grow just as experience with this chaotic and often dangerous school would lead you to expect. Broad-leafed stalks stretch upwards, petals unfolding to reveal long jets of fire instead of a sensible stamen. Bushes have large toothy mouths, and viciously swallow anyone who comes near (though they are still just bushes, and the victims end up on the their other side just a few scratches worse for wear). A tree grows quills instead of needles; another sprouts paper airplanes instead of leaves. An extremely aggressive pitcher-plant wanders the pathways, mugging students at knifepoint. It's a jungle out there. Bullies, Of Course Surely a Magicademy, with many students already adults and with such an emphasis on learning and control, wouldn't have those who used their magic for such petty ends as making others suffer? Uh-huh. A pack of bullies with more spell experience than wisdom has banded together to take delight in the suffering of others. They overtly pick on the small, the meek, and those with less magical skill; they torment the larger, the bold, and the powerful in secret. Worse, they are the clever sorts of bullies, who go out of their way not to get caught and not to do anything that can't be played off or explained away. Maybe you attracted their attention by looking weak enough to pick on. Or strong enough to need to be taken down a notch. Or weird enough that you were the Other and thus lesser. Or pretty/handsome enough that you needed to look less attractive so they would look more so. They are pretty good at justifying picking on anyone, really. Are they pestering you by magical tripping or property destruction? Playing keep-away with your class books? Better be careful how you respond; their fathers might hear about it. Wind At The Docks (aka The Prompt Where You Don't Get Mugged) The winds of spring bring something of a dark pastime to Anastara -- dockwatching. Aware that a sudden blast of air can rip across the island at a moment's notice, crowds gather at the docks with the air of those expecting spectacle. All too often, they are rewarded -- in the wake of a sudden wind, airships list violently, or bump into each other, or desperately pull sails and power up their flotation cores to avoid a worse collision. Curses fly through the air, and sometimes even spells. With luck, the audience might even see a pair of vessels engage in an all-out air duel, as two captains driven by pride or vengeance refuse to back down. Now, to their credit, the assembled people aren't heartless. If a ship truly looks to be in trouble, or if it's smashed to the ground or into a dock, the people of Anastara don't hesitate to help those on board to safety or ensure that they don't go down with their ship. But mostly it's watching the chaos. It IS quite a show... 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 newly-arrived 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.) This month, the team has developed a Sundering Glyph designed to detect any influence of the magic on you. Painted on your arm, it will shine with a bright light when a Sundering effect attempts to influence you. They explain that they believe the Sundered are still subject to either the spell that brought them here or new ones, because they have detected remnants of Sundering magic in the wake of students who have mysteriously disappeared. They ask only that you report back when it lights up. Problem: when the Glyph erupts, either because of the Glyph itself or the spell it has detected... those who bear it find themselves no longer where they started. Perhaps they find themselves in a classroom late at night. Or the wrong dormitory. Or in the Great Hall in their nightshirt. Or for the utterly lowbrow amongst you, a restroom occupied by the wrong gender. Whatever the case: sorry. Wonders Await Diatu Magicademy is open to you in all its glory. Have fun! A Special Note If you thread out one or more scenes based on the confusion from "Research on the Sundered", respond to the comment on this post with a link to that thread. The results of this will be revealed next month! (It is some sort of regain this month!)

Comments

O snap

[paradoxical_personality]

"Yes, there is." Seeing no reason to veil that fact now even if she is addressing a professor. Apparently she should be questioning her own lack of judgement for a change.

"This research is being conducted carelessly, and eventually someone is going to be hurt because of it."

[magicademynpcs]

"Magic is dangerous, Miss Hel." Professor King's smile doesn't waver at all as she takes a step closer. "By now you should see that. Sundering is especially dangerous, that's why they banned it for so long. So most of this research team is still learning, from the very beginning. Now, would you prefer we not try to help you at all? I think that'd be much crueler, to just shrug and say you're stuck here forever because we don't want to take risks. It would also be denying the responsibility of magic to you, since magic brought you here. Also a bad idea in my opinion!"

[paradoxical_personality]

"You say that as if I am a stranger to the concept," A fact that has her crinkling her nose. Her magic used to be among the most dangerous at that. It was only because she had been stripped of her powers that no one had been seriously injured last month. She wouldn't have anyone using her as an instrument of destruction, not deliberately nor on accident. The attempts to placate her felt condescending.

"..... I'm not saying that." She reluctantly had to agree, and she could see vengeance slipping out of her grasp the longer they spoke.

"I'm saying-..... that the way in which the research is conducted should be altered." Finally putting her wand away. "Instead of casting random spells on the sundered then allowing them to roam freely around the school perhaps they should be monitored for a period of time to ensure both their safety and the safety of the others. Not everyone is volunteering for the research but they are getting dragged into it from the side effects."

[magicademynpcs]

"We can't predict the side effects," Professor King's bright optimism seems impossible to dent. "We do everything we can to prevent them, but we're in uncharted skies. How long do we monitor someone? If it's only a few hours, we probably won't catch the side-effects even when it happens. If it is longer, we are keeping someone from class and life. How long should we do that? So long as the danger to others is no worse than walking down a hall outside the classrooms, and Richard tells me that is about where we stand, then what can I call it but learning pains?

"Though," she continues, her smile dropping away to an uncomfortable serious expression and her words clipped, "you'll do me the favor of not calling them 'random spells'." With three sharps snaps of her fingers, Professor King summons up an illusory slateboard, crammed chalk full of words and diagrams. Her foot tapping to keep the Fantastics going, she points at it. "This, Miss Hel, represents only the summary of the sum total of work put into our efforts this month. Every effort made to create what our current knowledge tells us will be an effective and useful spell to aid the Sundered in some way. If it fails, if it produces side effects we do not foresee, that is because our current knowledge is so limited. Not because we are playing fast and loose with your lives and minds and hearts.

"Now. " The illusion fades, and Professor King's smile returns. It can't hide the steel she'd just shown, only mask it. "If you have specific suggestions on how we can improve our spells to produce less trouble, that don't also involve keeping volunteers under such onerous watch that they no long volunteer?"

[paradoxical_personality]

"That's part of the problem." Not doubting the professor's words on that score. "Based on my observations most of the side effects seem to appear within a 24 hour period... but that is always subject to change depending on the spell, and the subject." Unsurprisingly there was no hesitation to shoot down her initial suggestion. The staff here apparently had already made up their minds on how to proceed and weren't all that willing to entertain alternative ideas. ".. but the danger could have been worse. It almost was worse." Noticeably shaking a little as she remembered what she herself had almost done. All the students she had attacked in the corridors. "I understand that this is a daunting situation, and that little is known about the magic that conveyed us here but I also find it hard to believe that some arrangement couldn't be made to better safeguard the volunteers without being an inconvenience to either party." Simply raising awareness for one, or instituting a buddy system. That way students that usually attended the same classes could look out for one another, but as it stood now no one even knew who was having the spells tested on them or not.

Hel took some small delight in triggering a change in expression on Professor King's face, but her own features didn't reflect it. When the slateboard appeared she studied it accordingly, but all this magic was still so foreign to her despite the few classes she'd had under her belt already that it might as well have been written in braille. Lacking so much knowledge after eons of existence was a constant source of irritation for her. If only she could receive a copy of these formulas she might have some hope of deciphering them or finding someone who could. There wasn't much to be said at this point. She was receiving a lecture and it felt every bit like one.

Oh, Hel would still like to tell Professor King what she can do with her spells- but it wouldn't benefit anyone. Especially not herself. "I do have a suggestion but you will likely find it too invasive. Research is conducted fairly regularly, wouldn't it be possible to disclose a list of the participants so their peers might also be more prepared to watch over them? For example if a student should go missing, or alter their behavior significantly as to be cause for concern being able to check the list might make it easier to diagnose the problem. It could even be posted on the bulletin board so it would appear in each of the dorms."

[magicademynpcs]

"If they agree to it," Professor King says, one finger upraised. "Forcing people to reveal they've been experimented on, well, it just doesn't sit right. And the other students might treat them differently, more so, and we don't want that at all. But if they agree, that would work!"

[paradoxical_personality]

She nailed it. Too Invasive. Professor King does surprise Hel this time by at least entertaining the notion. It's a marginal victory in that regard but it's still dependent on a bunch of students idiotic enough to sign up for the research in the first place to then consent to having their involvement disclosed openly. She wouldn't hold her breath, it could go either way. Still, you can't force people to accept help when they are reluctant to. It's about all she can hope for at this point.

"Possibly, if they agree to it." Hel was forced to agree to as much. It left much to be desired but she was hardpressed to think of anything else they could try just now. If they knew who was trustworthy among them the names could be disclosed only to those parties, like a student council but everyone here were still basically strangers to her so there's no one she could nominate. Plus the logistics of that...... a small group of people wouldn't be able to watch over all the sundered that had been experimented on.

She was starting to understand why the staff was stuck between a rock and a rock place and she was detesting it. Hel didn't come here today because she wanted to be reasonable. Folding her arms across her chest she silently surrendered but wouldn't apologize for having caused a bit of a stir in the first place.

[magicademynpcs]

"We walk a fine line, here," Professor King muses, still evincing cheer if a bit more solemn. "Do too little, and we can be accused of doing nothing at all to help. Act too conservatively, we may never find the answer. Go too bold, and we risk truly dangerous results. We are refining, always refining. It really is the Magicademies' fault for banning Sundering in the first place," she adds petulantly, folding her arms like she'd been done a personal harm. "Whatever the case, you should know that we wizards are sorry for all of this, and we are doing our best to set it right."

[paradoxical_personality]

No longer blinded by her fury, what the professor had to say was able to reach her. "I... suppose I can understand that, relate to it a bit." It wasn't always easy finding a way to send people back to their own dimensions when such things happened in her world either. Usually it involved tracking down the source of the disturbance and engaging it in combat, once defeated things tended to go back to normal.

"I have mixed feelings on Sundering... it does seem too powerful to be left into just anyone's hands but at the same time knowledge of it would not have been lost had it remained in the curriculum."

"Very well." Or in other words, she would not smite the researcher she had intended to. It was a great personal sacrifice, but guess she needed to be reasonable here. "It's not your fault- it's whoever is behind all of this."