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

Research

[areasontohope]

The class was ending and Yuki had gotten his things together. Putting everything away in his small backpack, he sighed and got up. But then he realized he had a paper to give to the professor, so he had to dig around and get the paper out.

Get the notebook out, get the paper out of that, and now put the notebook away. Alright, that should be it. Yuki was looking forward to getting some research done in the library, so it was just a matter of getting the paper turned in.

He'd no sooner walked up to the front desk when suddenly a person appeared that hadn't been there just a moment ago.

[plusfivedex]

Kamala was still trying to wrap her mind around what had just happened when Yuki approached the desk, and she blinked at him for a moment, unsure of what to do. Getting off the desk was probably the best idea, but she was too frazzled for the obvious thought to come to her. Instead, she spoke, staying right where she was.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to... I don't know if I actually did that, to be honest." A pause. "But hi."

[areasontohope]

It made him take a step back to see someone materialize out of thin air, but he supposed he should expect that by now. After all this was a magic school.

"Hello." And beyond this, her words confused Yuki and he tried to think this through. "You're not sure if you cast a spell or not?"

Was there some way that could happen?

[plusfivedex]

He made a good point, and Kamala laughed sheepishly as she finally got off the desk and onto her feet. "Okay, I guess I know I didn't do that. But I'm not sure what did do it, exactly..."

She shrugged, though she wasn't about to let go of the curiosity. Still, she didn't want to be rude, and offered her hand to the other student. "I'm Kamala, by the way."

[areasontohope]

Now he was even more confused if she wasn't sure how the thing even happened. Had someone cast a spell on her?

And he was about to ask, but she offered her hand and at first he looked at it quizzically, but then remembered that he'd seen other students shaking hands in greeting, so he took her hand after she said her name.

Still, he couldn't help but slightly bow his head. "I'm Yuki Sohma, it's nice to meet you."

[plusfivedex]

"You, too," Kamala said with a small smile. "Are you one of the newer students?" She was fairly certain she hadn't seen him around before, after all. She could remember how kind Fluttershy and her other new friends had been to her when she'd arrived, not to mention how helpful - and she hoped she could offer the same to Yuki.

[areasontohope]

Somehow he was surprised she'd guessed it, but maybe she'd been around and hadn't seen him before. So he nodded. "I am, it seems I've just arrived with a few other people."

Though how or why that had happened remained a mystery to him.

[plusfivedex]

"Yeah, that was me not too long ago. Well, me and a bunch of others," she said with a light laugh. "I think the hardest part's been figuring out where everything is, although maybe it would be getting used to magic that was hardest if I wasn't already pretty used to weird stuff."

Kamala tucked some of her hair behind her ear. Really, she could only imagine what this school would be like to someone who had gone through life thinking the fantastic was impossible.

"How about you? Is magic new, something you're used to, or kind of in-between?"

[areasontohope]

He nodded. Magic back home was turning into a Rat or a Dragon or any of the cursed zodiac spirits. There wasn't anything like this sort of magic back home. Holding a wand to cast a spell might not be the easiest thing that came to him for fighting, but he wasn't having much trouble with it.

But Yuki wasn't about to get into that at all and so he shook his head.

"Magic is new." Cursed zodiac spirits were the closest thing that they had.

[plusfivedex]

Kamala nodded her understanding.

"Well, if you have any questions, I'm happy to help. My experience is still pretty limited, but I'll do what I can."

[areasontohope]

This made Yuki nod his head at Kamala. "Thank you for your kind offer."

But then he looked around and then looked back at her. "You asked me if I was one of the newer students. Have you been here at this school for a long time?"

[plusfivedex]

Kamala shook her head. "Not really. Just about a month," she explained, before adding, "It kind of feels like it's been longer, though; being away from my home and everyone there."

[areasontohope]

He nodded at Kamala's reply. "Do you know..if anyone's ever gone home from this place?" Yuki was wondering if there was some certain spell that they needed to learn, and if so, he would definitely be studying his nonexistent tail off in order to do so.

[plusfivedex]

"Well..."

She trailed off, at first. It was a hard truth to break to someone, but she wasn't going to lie about it. That wouldn't help anything. "No. At least, I don't think so - yet! There are people from this place who are always working on that."

[areasontohope]

Yuki shook his head. Well, that was a hope dashed, but then again he didn't know everyone that came and went here. But the last thing that Kamala said caught his attention.

"People are working on leaving you mean?"

[plusfivedex]

Kamala nodded, the smile returning to her face. "Yeah, there are wizards from this place who do all sorts of magical experimentation to figure it out."

[areasontohope]

Well gee, where did he sign up? Maybe he would go ask the wizards himself if he knew exactly where he should start.

"That would be the wizards then, right?"