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

[stillnewatthis]

"Oh, hello, Ballet." Properly greeting those you knew was good protocol, and Orisa didn't know any better than to employ it here. "Actually, may I ask you both to be careful? I am about to do something risky!"

[shiningkindness]

Ballet gave a rumbling sound, and Fluttershy hesitated a moment before she nodded. "O-Okay..." she said, keeping at a safe distance.

[stillnewatthis]

Airship parts, engaged! Power to maximum! (That was irrelevant, because there were no other options, but still!) Orisa shot upwards, the vines stretching tight as the force of her integrated parts strained against them.

"This should make them easier to cut or sever!"

[shiningkindness]

Realizing what doing, Fluttershy nodded. "R-Right...! Ballet!"

At that moment, what appeared to be a sword rose from the ground, slashing clean through the vines to free Orisa.

[stillnewatthis]

Most of the vines split; the rest snapped under the strain, and Orisa was free!

Orisa was also rocketing into the sky so quickly she looked like nothing more than a dot after just a moment!

Oops.

[shiningkindness]

"...Uh-oh."

Getting on Ballet's back, they hurry to go find her.

[stillnewatthis]

The distinctly-colored speck descending off in the distance offered a pretty good clue. And when they got closer, the sounds of thrashing and leaves shaking like they were in gale-force wind.

Orisa was stuck, upside-down, in a tree.

[shiningkindness]

Nearing where she had landed in, Fluttershy stepped off Ballet's back, looking up into the tree.

"O-Orisa...? Are you okay?"

[stillnewatthis]

Orisa paused her thrashing, her eyes snapping briefly shut before opening in a cross shape again. "Systems remain within acceptable parameters."

That was technically the correct answer, right?

[shiningkindness]

It was good enough for Fluttershy as she, with some help from Ballet, began climbing the tree.

"H-Hang on...I'm coming up."

[stillnewatthis]

"Oh, please be careful!" said the omnic who had gotten caught by vines, launched herself into the sky, then plummeted into a tree.

[shiningkindness]

"Mm...I'll be okay."

Still, it's a bit of slow going as she headed up, testing each branch to make sure they'd hold her weight. She does reach Orisa eventually, looking over how the omnic got tangled up in the first place.

"...here, let me..." Carefully she tugged at one branch, trying to see where it was and get it unstuck.

[stillnewatthis]

How she got tangled up? Velocity and bad aim. The branches wove around her almost like a net, though the one Fluttershy tugged at made her jerk down several inches.

[shiningkindness]

"O-Oops...hang on." Not wanting her to fall too quickly, she pulled at a different branch.

[stillnewatthis]

That got Orisa's arm free at least! She quickly grabbed for the nearest thick branch she could find to brace herself. "Try that one over there. I may be able to turn!"

[shiningkindness]

Following Orisa's direction, she tested the branch a bit before tugging on it and pulling it back some.

[stillnewatthis]

With a sharp crunch, Orisa tumbled down another few feet, but ended up on her side this time.

"An improvement!"

[shiningkindness]

Fluttershy, meanwhile, jumped a bit as Orisa fell even that much distance.

"A-Are you okay?"

[stillnewatthis]

"My frame was originally designed for combat, and it is substantially reinforced now," Orisa said, lifting a finger to make her point. "Branches will not hurt me!"

[shiningkindness]

She still hesitated a bit.

"...what about falling from a height like this?"

[stillnewatthis]

"I would prefer to do so onto my legs. They will absorb the shock substantially better than a direct frame impact."

Orisa was just so matter-of-fact about all of this.

[shiningkindness]

Thinking for a moment, she descended a bit so she was more on level with Orisa again.

"If I move some of these branches, do you think you'd be able to get right-side up again?"

[stillnewatthis]

"Based on my current state, I calculate that is likely, with an alternative of me falling directly on my head at approximately three-to-one odds."

She sounded so matter-of-factly cheerful.

[shiningkindness]

...Well, the odds were more in their favor of her landing right-side up, so...

"Okay...let's see..." Following a line of some branches, Fluttershy pulled them back to help her get unstuck.

[stillnewatthis]

Another crunch dropped Orisa several more feet, but this time she got a hand on the thick part of a branch near the trunk and used it as leverage to rotate herself more. With a little kicking and a whack with her fusion driver, she managed to free herself, dropping the rest of the way to the ground. And landing on her feet! Even managing to look dramatic doing it!

Which she immediately ruined by straightening up and giddily clapping her hand to her fusion driver. "We did it! Thank you very much!"