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

[darkenedmoon]

I do not see how it could hurt? Save our ears, but if it works, I will have a new pet! How delightful!

[Not that Gosetsu wasn't infinitely more useful, but she wanted her familiar with her. If she could get this plant to guard her room, that would be one more way to keep unwanted intruders out.

But she'd have to train it to not harass wanted guests. Hm. Yotsuyu would have to climb that hurdle when she came to it. It had to be at least as smart as Grynewaht, though...]

You may as well try!

[woo_oo]

Let's see... I guess I'll just have to do my best Donald impression.

[Time to intentionally sing as badly as she can, while at the same time doing her best imitation of Donald Duck. It's gunna sound weird.]

~We're three caballeros
Yes, three caballeros
They say we are birds of a feather!~

[darkenedmoon]

[Yotsuyu made a mental note to ask Webby just who Donald was. But later. For now, she had a plant to subdue!

Plants do not have ears, but the pitcher plant did seem to react to the sound waves from Webby's singing. It dropped the knife it was wielding and cringed, its fronds covering the bulbous pitcher that served it as a head.

Oh, good! [The first thing to do was prevent it from getting the knife again. Then she could worry about subduing it. Yotsuyu darted in and snatched it up, holding the handle towards Webby. She needed a prize too, after all.]

Keep going! I am going to try to subdue it with Modification...

[woo_oo]

[Sweet! Free weapon! She happily takes it, and now uses it like a baton as she sings and dances!]

~We're happy amigos
No matter where he goes
The one, two, and three goes
We're always together~

[darkenedmoon]

[The plant does not seem to like that at all, and is suitably distracted by Webby's singing. It's fairly atrocious to Yotsuyu as well, but at least she is aware that the duck girl is trying to make it so.

For her part, she is busy drawing diagrams in the air with her fan, yellow eyes bright. Really, the wisdom of this is probably nonexistent, but one cannot deny that Yotsuyu is driven when she cares to be. Whispering of formulae complete, as are her diagrams, the pitcher plant's fronds are bound to its stalk, and it sways as its balance is compromised.]

Can we not be friends? Otherwise we shall have to move you off this path, and I am not certain what other consequences might be in store for you...they might need familiar fodder.

[woo_oo]

[Does that mean she should stop singing? She keeps up the dancing, but mostly because that's fun.]

If you don't at least consider her offer, I have plenty more lyrics to go through!

[darkenedmoon]

[Does it even understand English? Or is there something else that makes the pitcher plant droop in submission? Truly, it's a difficult thing to say. But Yotsuyu picks it up and tucks it beneath her arm as if it is a football. It droops there, subdued.]

I shall have to make sure I have a large enough pot for this beauty! Thank you, Webby!

[woo_oo]

[She stops dancing to throw her arms up in celebration!]

Congrats! That was awesome!

[darkenedmoon]

He was not so great a threat, but I am grateful for your support, in any case!

[What an amusing way to pass the time. Yotsuyu was not entirely certain what else she might need to constrain this plant, but she did suppose she'd find out.]

I am terrible at naming things, as you know...I do not suppose you have something clever to dub my new friend?

[woo_oo]

Hmmmm...

[She cups her beak in thought.]

How about something like "Raskovnik"? In Slavic folklore, it's a magical herb that's said to be able to unlock and uncover anything!

[i mean, yeah.]

[darkenedmoon]

I do not think I have a better thought for it...I shall probably butcher the pronunciation terribly, but it does suit!

[Amusement is evident in her tone and she grins at Webby. And it isn't as if she minds that Webby is a nerd. Since Yotsuyu was given the chance, she's little better. Making up for lost opportunity...]

Raskovnik? I may shorten it to Ras, for simplicity's sake, but did I get it right?

[woo_oo]

Works for me! I use a nickname for my familiar too, Jorry!

[She then sticks a hand out in greeting.]

Good to meet you, Ras!

[darkenedmoon]

I remember! [Yotsuyu laughed at that, then looked down at the listless plant.]

I do not think it has learned 'shake' yet. We shall have to work on that.

[woo_oo]

Oh boy, imagine all the neat tricks you can teach it!

[darkenedmoon]

Yes...and that shall be fun, for some of us.

[Probably not for Ras the plant, but if it hadn't made a spectacle of itself, it would not now be in Yotsuyu's clutches. It only has itself to blame.]