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

[holdyourhorns]

The interruption stills the torment just long enough that Spyro can properly and defiantly fix his own glare at the students despite still being a few feet off the ground and unable to move lower or higher than that.

"We're just teaching this thing a lesson before we throw it out from the school!"

"Yeah! We've got a dangerous animal here, better step back before it burns you too!"

... That 'warning' might've had a spark of merit if it wasn't for how magically well what could be tape was still present on the little dragon's snout like how most humans would choose to safely handle an alligator or crocodile.

[shiningkindness]

She wasn't at all convinced, especially as she nears and sees that his mouth was secured shut, preventing him from what they claimed he'd do.

"First of all, animals prefer not to attack unless they're provoked, so if something happened it's more likely that you pushed him too far. Second, even if that is true, you already have him subdued, so what you're doing now is excessive and cruel. So you better put him down right now!"

One of the bullies scoffed, and since he wasn't one of the ones holding Spyro up in the air, he starts walking towards Fluttershy. "Yeah? And what're you going to do if we don't?"

He only manages a few steps towards her when suddenly a sword rises from the ground, blocking his way and earning a surprised yelp as he jumps back.

[holdyourhorns]

"Mmmf nff?"

Which is not intelligible at all, but Spyro is certainly curious and impressed. And the sound from him means that either, of course, this dragon would be very capable of talking otherwise or animal translate power is still going strong.

"I didn't sign up for this, man!" shouts out the main jerk's other compatriot.

To which said ringleader holding up Spyro doesn't seem convinced enough. "There's only one of her and two of you, ya moron!"

.... Cue wands not preoccupied with the dragon pointed threateningly at Fluttershy.

[shiningkindness]

Before they could do anything, the sword still jutting up seemed to cut through the ground, the broad side of the blade catching one of the bullies and tripping him, knocking him into the others. The ground beneath them then suddenly rose up a bit until they were standing on something round and rubbery, knocking them around a bit and making it hard for them to stand.

Distracted as they were, the leader wasn't concentrating enough on the spell to keep hold of Spyro. Luckily Fluttershy pulled out her own wand, using a spell to catch him before he hit the ground.

[holdyourhorns]

Well, that seems like a very obvious sign to the lackeys that either Fluttershy is way higher from their skill level than they expected or she totally isn't completely outnumbered. As a cowardly, yet perhaps logical move, they decide they would rather ditch the ringleader than stick around.

"Get back here! Though soon enough he figures to take the same hint. "... My father will hear about this!

Good riddance though as Spyro flaps his wings for a midair liftoff and a sign that she can release the magic since obviously Fluttershy's use of the levitation spell isn't meant to restrain him. He freely glides over once she does.

[shiningkindness]

She gasped softly as his wings unfurled. She knew he'd been a creature of some sort, but she had no idea that he'd been a dragon...!

Forcing herself to push the thought aside for now, though, she worked on undoing what was around his mouth. Luckily it seemed to have a physical form, so she was able to - carefully - pry it off.

"Are you okay?"

[holdyourhorns]

The dragon works his jaw a bit as soon as it's freed, then the pause lingers as he licks his claw and rubs at a part of his snout. Like a kitty! Soon he's satisfied enough to finally answer.

"Yeah, I'm okay...! They didn't get around to roughing me up that much."

[shiningkindness]

....Oh, that was adorable.

"That's good," she said, watching him for a moment. Then, because she couldn't help herself, "...I...hope you don't mind me asking, but...you are a...dragon...right?"

[holdyourhorns]

"In the flesh! A real living, fire-breathing, talking dragon...!"

He puffs out a single bright orange, yet small and harmless plume of fire for emphasis. Granted it gets pretty tiring eventually when absolutely everyone is in awe at seeing him.

... Better than being underestimated for his size.

[shiningkindness]

Her expression brightens, and yes, she is completely taken with seeing him. "Oh wow...! A real dragon! I've met a dragon before, but he came from another world and every time he's in my world, he turns into a puppy, so I've never gotten to see him as a dragon...So this is incredible!"

[holdyourhorns]

He, of course, tilts his head and seems visibly confused when Fluttershy gets to the part about dragons turning into puppies.

"Well if you guys don't have dragons where you come from, that's one way to keep a low profile." Still WEIRD. "So how did you manage all of... that back there anyway?"

[shiningkindness]

"Hm...? Oh, that's actually my familiar, Ballet," she replied, gesturing to the dorsal fin that was now protruding from the ground. Soon a large shape rose up, revealing an eye-patch wearing whale. "She's a sword-fighter."