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

Bullies, of course

[darkenedmoon]

So focused were the thugs on Atem, that one of the lackeys did not notice the four-foot snake sloooowly slithering up his body--until, of course, it was too late, and he was face-to-snout with the beast--which had him letting out a shriek.

His wand? He'd already dropped it, and a slender hand snatched it up. Yotsuyu folded her arms and stared at the other two, wand clenched in one fist, and the other wielding her fan. She was not--yet--threatening, simply eyeing the other two as their third danced in Gosetsu's coils.

"Pray tell, what are you three playing at?" Yes. Playing, though she'd certainly seen them casting spells to trip the other young man. Nor did she really expect a straight answer out of any of them--including the gibbering one. Really, she could not understand why he was afraid of a little snake.

[king_of_egypt]

Atem hadn't noticed it either as he bantered back and forth with their spokesman. It was just as well, since that way he was unable to give away the surprise too early. Alerted by the sound all eyes snapped over to the commotion. It wasn't hard to determine what had happened but it was amusing all the same.

Then Atem's eyes soon traveled to the striking young woman with the raven-black hair that carried herself with such a level of authority, grace and confidence despite being slightly outnumbered.

You should learn to stay out of things that don't concern you, the tallest boy declared, turning his large frame at an angle to look at who was trying to break up their altercation. She didn't look like any of the professors so they saw no reason to relent.

[darkenedmoon]

More fool he, then. She tucked the wand once held by Gosetsu's playmate in her obi, and snapped her fan at the one who chose to be spokesman.

"And I do not recall there being allowances for brawling in the halls. I do believe the Headmaster would have appraised me of such." Yotsuyu might only be a student teacher, and thus unrecognizable unless one took her class, but she had both the attitude and the arrogance to at least attempt to cow the young fools.

As she spoke, she fluttered her fan--it did serve to distract the eye so very nicely, but she also employed it as her focus. If they did not notice her casting Modification, more fool they. She gave a glance to the young man they had been tormenting.

"Are these children bothering you?"

[king_of_egypt]

The Headmaster- pleaaaaase.. The boy snorted at that. You should know she's not the only influential figure in this world.. Eluding to his own parentage. Then he seemed to grow weary of the exchange, eager to get back to his business. There was that little problem that one of his goons was still ensnared by her snake though and making a right fool of them all by association. Will ya knock it off!. Pointing his wand at his friend he drew a symbol in the air, and in a moment the jibbering stopped but not the flailing. His compatriot was now sporting a gag over his mouth.

"You'd turn on your friends just as easily as others...?" Atem commented with a note of disgust. It would have been more prudent to help remove the familiar than to leave the boy who was clearly afraid of snakes to languish.

Having to split the attention in three differently directions was proving too much for the ringleader, as his inaction persisted. Part of it was clearly because he wanted to enjoy this and lord his powers over those he was trying to torment, getting a rush from it. I didn't ask for your opinion. Then his head snapped back to Yotsuyu. Who are you calling children..

"Immensely." Atem responded, quite calmly.

[darkenedmoon]

"Temporal power," Yotsuyu sighed at the boy. "It is so very interesting on how it is used and how an individual can wield it." She sauntered closer, ending up with a snap of her fan directed right at the end of the child's nose, yellow eyes glittering.

"I know precisely who your father is, Master Eddrevan, and I know precisely why you were sent here. As I know what should happen should your illustrious father find you brawling in the halls! Your reputation precedes you!"

After all, she was the Espionage instructor, and as Yotsuyu liked to say, it was her business to know things. Not that it was precisely her business to use Modification to bind his arms to his sides and lose his wand, but if he thought to ensnare her by claiming she, too, was brawling--well! She indeed was stepping in, but to stop such a thing from happening.

Yotsuyu also had a history of stepping in to stop fights in the halls; one that the Headmaster and other instructors were well aware of. But she couldn't help one last jibe.

"My dear Master Eddrevan, you and your cohort must be half my age at best. What else could you ever be to me, but children?"

The smile she turned on Atem, however, was far from feigned, and she graced him with a wink.