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

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"Me... I got turned into an Aeon myself." And worse, but yeah, skipping that part for now. "Turns out the only way anyone knew to beat Sin was have a summoner change a guardian into their own personal Aeon. Knew I wasn't getting home, then, so. Signed up for it."

[darkenedmoon]

Yotsuyu gave Jecht a long look at that. Somewhat skeptical. She felt as if there were something missing--but the kami knew she still held a wealth of secrets, and he certainly had as much right to do the same.

"Ah. I see," she said quietly. "So...you were a hero. As I was not."

A rueful smile curved her lips for a brief moment, but she shook her head and dismissed it. There was no pride in her now for what she had done.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"Naw. Just... a fill-in. Just putting off the problem another couple of years." That was the big thing, wasn't it? That was what his kid had fixed. He was the hero.

[darkenedmoon]

"And yet, you did such a thing with full knowledge that you would lose...your home, your wife, your son? What else? Say you there is nothing heroic in that?"

Yotsuyu arched a brow as she stared up at him, lips thinning. "I think I should have some passing familiarity with heroes, Jecht."

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"I'd already lost 'em. Didn't have anything else to lose. Don't make too big a deal out of me..." Jecht looked at her sidelong, a solemn smile on his face. "It's the boy you should be giving the credit. Trust me on this one."

[darkenedmoon]

"Should I ever meet him, I shall give him a great deal of credit. I simply do not think that you need go without." Yotsuyu snorted, then. "As you well know, I am aware that when you choose to do so, you make a great deal out of yourself. Without my help."

Which made her think that maybe he protested a bit too much, but she wasn't about to pry. If he chose to speak further on the why of it, so be it, but if not, that was acceptable, as well.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"Yeah, exactly!" He snapped a finger, the sound surprisingly explosive given his calluses, to point at her. "If I was some hero I wouldn't be sitting on it! I'd be looking for my parade! Screaming fangirls and a rush for autographs!"

[darkenedmoon]

"Save that means absolutely nothing here, and both you and I know it. I doubt these wizards will go on hearsay." Yotsuyu did not, particularly. Though the Warrior of Light's reputation was more than well-known, and thus not precisely hearsay.

"Though it is not as if I do not understand. After all, arriving here has changed the way I deal with things, as well." It wasn't exactly a comfortable process, but she wouldn't change it for the world.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"Hey, who cares if it means absolutely nothing! I'd still be asking for it!"

Okay, that might be an exaggeration, but not TOO much of one.

"'Course this place doesn't know blitzball at all..."

[darkenedmoon]

"I do believe that, out of you..." Yotsuyu muttered. Some things, she supposed, did not change. That or Jecht simply enjoyed feeding his ego.

"No, it has...bala-inlota. Why should they seek after the one familiar to you, when they have their own sport?" She supposed that there was always a choice, but the people of this world seemed enamored of the one they had.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"Heh, wait till they see it. Then they'll realize what they've been missing!"

He WAS going to show it to them. Hey, they got all this magic and fancy ways of doing things, why not put it to some real good use and get a blitzball stadium?

[darkenedmoon]

"I have seen bala-inlota, and yet I do not feel as if I were missing much..." She can't help but feel the same at all the talk of blitzball, as well. But still, she'd suffer through it for his sake. Because it seemed to bring him joy.

Even if Yotsuyu was certain by now that she'd never understand it.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"It ain't blitzball, but it's got the same thing going for it. If all you see is a bunch of guys throwing spells and themselves at each other, you gotta stop and look again. It's not just brainless! There's some real tactics that gotta go into a scrum like that. How you move, who you move at, what you do -- everything's gotta be decided both lightning-quick and a way that means your team is on the same page too."

That's why the Sublimely Magnificent Jecht Shot Mark III did so well -- it looked great, showed off obvious tactical advantage, and got results all at once.

[darkenedmoon]

"I shall have to take your word for it. Though I find it hard to believe..."

Then again, Yotsuyu had had enough education in basic tactics that she might, indeed, take a closer look the next time she went to one of his games. There must be something she was missing, if what Jecht said were true.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"'Course you do, but it's true. I'll show ya!" If nothing else, he had boundless confidence!

[darkenedmoon]

Of course he did. That was simply a facet of who Jecht was, Yotsuyu had learned.

"I am sure, you shall simply have to have the opportunity, yes?"

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"I'm gonna make the opportunity," Jecht countered.

[darkenedmoon]

"So you say," Yotsuyu said, nodding. She did believe he would, but...saying that. No, he was arrogant enough already--and this was coming from her, with her own fair share of arrogance!

"I imagine I shall be there to see it, since I have been coming to visit."

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

Didn't matter what she said or thought. Sports and life weren't about waiting for opportunities to pop up, they were about making them! "Damn straight you will. Then you'll get to brag to people you were one of my first fans!"

[darkenedmoon]

"I am not sure I will brag. That is your forte." Though drop that tidbit in conversation to impress? In a way, maybe that was bragging in its own right, but Yotsuyu simply wasn't beyond that--and she knew it.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

He bet she would, and he sure counted that as bragging. Didn't need to be all puffed up to make it clear you're the best. "Hey, when I finally prove it, I'll just be sayin' the facts!"

[darkenedmoon]

Yotsuyu rolled her eyes at that. "Save for the logical progression being, first you prove it, and only then do you brag."

Then again, one simply could not trust Jecht when it came to little things like logic.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"I've already proved it! Not MY fault they won't take the proof!"

Take that, logic!

[darkenedmoon]

Yes. Exactly as she had expected.

"Your word, that you were a star where you were from? That is no proof, you could be lying!" Yotsuyu raised a hand to that. "Do not take that as I think you are--I am no fool, and one could not look like you do without a good deal of work of some sort. But perhaps a spell to confirm that you do speak truth is out of reach. So yes, you have to work again."

Not that she expected him for a single moment to see her point of view.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"I did it. They didn't see it with their own eyes, so they don't believe. Doesn't mean I'm not the best!"

If nothing else, Jecht could present a really strong self-esteem. And if maybe he felt he wasn't quite who he used to be, didn't he at least have a chance to build himself up again here?