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

[mithrarin]

"If it was possible to beat them..." Dust, created for battle, had a different perspective. But even he could acknowledge that what really needed to happen -- keeping people safe -- wouldn't be accomplished by a battle in the weeds. He flipped Ahrah back into his accustomed reverse grip, still frowning.

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"With the right application of Forces magick...which I don't have here, by the way..." Isabel grumbled.

"I mean I suppose we could try to do the Weed Whacker thing, you with your swords and me with my bracelet, but that also begs the question once we get started, when do we end, right?"

She gave Dust a rather uncertain look, but at this point, she was willing to follow his lead. He probably was more experienced with fighting, or so she thought.

[mithrarin]

"Yeah. That's the point. This isn't some monster we can cut down. It's... aggressive weeds. We chop one down and it grows back. But they can't come after anybody."

What a heck of a place this campus was.

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"I'm sure if they had ones that were ambulatory, they'd have more warning signs. We did what we could, and we're safe." Not that Isabel wouldn't have tried to help anyone else in danger, just she saw no point in cutting down a bunch of plants that would just come back again.

Maybe that was the point. Maybe they actually served a purpose, but with just how weird magic was here, Isabel had her doubts.

[mithrarin]

"Yeah, it's other people I worry about. But this campus isn't really 'safe' by any means, is it."

That was something Dust struggled to reconcile in his mind. He could handle being in danger himself, but he wanted to keep others out of it.

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"I hear you...and no, no it isn't. I mean...my bracelet is great to have and gives me an edge, but I'm one of the ones who might be okay even if I didn't have it."

To judge by her expression, if Dust could, since she didn't have a muzzle...she was about as thrilled by all this as he was. Who took care of the ones who just weren't as capable? Did they all get bullied?

"I never thought 'vigilante' was a valid career path, but I'm starting to wonder now." That was only half a lame joke.

[mithrarin]

Human or Warmblood, expressions were pretty universal. There was probably something deep and philosophical in that, but don't expect Dust to be the one to voice such a sentiment.

"Vigilante? What exactly do you mean?"

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"Like helping those who can't help themselves. Like with great power comes great responsibility, to quote the Spectacular Spider-Ham. Sure, it's only a comic book, but..." Isabel shrugged at that.

Maybe he just didn't get it, but that didn't make her any less resolute about it.

[mithrarin]

"Oh. No, that's basically me. I just didn't ever think that word applied to me." Maybe because he was created for it instead of coming to it organically.

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"Why not?" That had her curious. "Me, most vigilantes where I'm from are like...kind of tortured individuals, dark pasts, trying to even up the odds. Balancing their losses by helping other folks, to feel better about themselves..."

Isabel fell silent for a few moments, before giving Dust a sheepish smile. "I don't really have any of that. Loving family, great home, never really hungry or cold or any of that stuff. But it's like...I've been given a lot. Shouldn't I help too? And just...tossing money around doesn't always do that, you know?"

[mithrarin]

"I was... created to do that. So it's just different circumstances, I guess. It's -- I chose it, don't get me wrong, but I never really thought about anything else. So..."

He wasn't sure that explained anything. Something seemed to be missing.

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"You got created?" Isabel's eyes went wide at that. Not that she was afraid or revolted, more like--startled. It wasn't as if her grandfather hadn't created any number of creatures in his time, after all. Some of them were even as intelligent as Dust clearly was.

"I suppose the question was 'did you see any other career path', maybe." She couldn't help but smile and shrug at that. "Nobody pushed you into it, right? Or did you have the 'oh chosen one, this is your destiny' sort of thing? I'm not mocking you, mind. Just I'm kind of familiar with how it goes."

Thanks, Dad.

[mithrarin]

"Well, let me put it this way. Suppose you wake up one day knowing nothing, get handed a sword, discover you love to fight and get stronger, and go out into a world where monsters are attacking innocent people and an entire race of people is being driven towards extinction."

He'd had a choice. He'd technically had a choice all through the thing. But his very nature made that choice no choice at all, really.

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

Isabel gave his words some thought, but ended up shrugging anyway.

"Not sure I'd need a sword, but...with or without one, I honestly can't see myself doing anything different than you did, in that situation. Heck, I already like to fight. Most unseemly for a girl, but."

She shrugged at that, too. Isabel was who she was, and wasn't inclined to make apologies for it.

[mithrarin]

"Well, I ended up with one right at the start... But you get the idea. Some choices aren't really choices at all."

He shrugged, not minding, really. He'd been created to want to make the choices he did, but that meant he WANTED to make the choices he did. No conflict there.

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"Well, I guess there are choices, and then there are things like...a waving red flag to a bull, huh?" But she chuckled at that.

"I mean, I've had a couple things come through my scope in life that were like...'That, I want to do that.' I think that's what it's like here, huh?"

Or hey, she could be entirely wrong, wouldn't be the first time.

[mithrarin]

"Sort of, yeah. More like, 'I can't NOT do that.'" In a lot of ways, that's how he had felt every time he was faced with a choice. Help? Had to. That was who he was.

"Actually, I kind of miss that. There's nothing here that gives me that same sort of drive."

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

Isabel shrugged at that. "It's kind of early on, you might find something, you know?" But she kind of understood the concept, at least. Sure, Fantastics was fun, and there were things that drew on the knowledge she already had, but there was still just...

Well, there was an undercurrent of boredom that she couldn't seem to shake, and found annoying. But she didn't want to express it. Isabel was always the type to try to find things to do instead of just moping about it.

[mithrarin]

Dust wouldn't call it 'boredom' so much as 'listlessness'. Everything had been a lot easier with a driving purpose, a direction forward.

"I hope not. Monsters and armies and ghosts... I'd rather nothing like that actually show up here and need me to stop them."

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"Noted. And I agree, same deal, but...magic. It doesn't seem really well regulated, especially considering we're here and what was used to bring us here was forbidden, y'know?"

Isabel sighed, resigned. She knew better, having had her own magick prior to coming here, but. "Something's sure to happen. Not necessarily because someone means it to, but...mistakes are made, right?"

[mithrarin]

"Just because it's regulated doesn't mean people won't do what they want anyway. Maybe stopping that person, or group, is what I need to do." It made as much sense as anything else he could think of.

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"That's also true," Isabel said with a sigh. "Yeah, we both do, if we want to get back home, right? Not that I want to get there right away, but it'd be nice to do so at some point."

She doubted her parents would be that worried about her, they'd taught her to handle herself, but still, she missed her family a bit already.

[mithrarin]

To which Dust shook his head slightly. "I'm here for a reason, and when that's done, I'll go the next place I'm needed. Whether or not that's Falana."

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"So are you sort of saying you don't even have a home?" Isabel frowned at that. "Or a family, either?"

Man, that was a crappy state of affairs, especially for Dust, who seemed like a cool enough guy to her--even if he wasn't a human guy. She made a face for a moment.

"Ever consider adopting your own family?" It wasn't like her own father hadn't done that sort of thing, when he'd lost his parents. Sure, he'd found them again, but that wasn't the topic of conversation, here.

[mithrarin]

"That's... essentially true, yes." If more complicated by nature. Jin, after all, had a sister -- one who apparently still saw something of the boy in Dust. "I'm not really suited for family. Once I deal with what I'm needed for here, I'll be needed somewhere else."