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]

Between panic and a big dude tackling them, the people around had begun to clear out rapidly, leaving a spot where she could plunk the airship down. Jecht dropped down to a knee for a second, catching his breath before he stood up. "You got this?"

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

Considering she'd landed the damn thing just as he asked the question, Isabel exhaled the breath she didn't know she'd been holding, and nodded. Heck, she was glad he was a big dude, it meant people listened!

"Yeah, I got it, I don't know how, but I did it." She'd probably eat half a cow later, or something to that effect. The airship wasn't even listing, but there did seem to be some damage to the components that kept it afloat. What had that guy even been thinking, lobbing fireballs like that?

"Ugh. I just hope I don't get in trouble."

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"If you get in trouble for help saving that ship's ass..." Jecht didn't follow up verbally, just clenched a fist tight to make his point.

He watched the ship for a moment, making certain it wasn't gonna fall over on anyway, then dusted his hands off and strode over to her.

"Nice work."

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"It's not like this place makes a ton of sense!" Isabel protested, lifting her hands soothingly. She didn't want the big guy to get in trouble because of her, though she appreciated the thought that he'd go to bat for her.

"Thanks, though. I'm kinda surprised I managed, but also glad I did." Hey, maybe it'd give Diatu some good press. Isabel was aware that the decision to take in the Sundered wasn't the most popular one they'd ever made, after all.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"How the heck did you do that, anyway?" Like, she was just a kid. Sure, kids could be pretty impressive, but landing an airship like that seemed pretty damn crazy!

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"Oh, this. I've learned a couple tricks with it, and I figured...I might be able to expand its repertoire, so to speak." Isabel lifted her right wrist to show the guy her bracelet.

"The academy guys gave it to me when I came here. I'm still not entirely sure how it works...but it works, so..." She shrugged. It sure worked well this time.

"I'm just glad I didn't break it by biting off more than I could chew!"

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"I got something like that, actually." He tapped his wrists together to make the bands on them clang together. They're not just cosmetic. "'Cept these do stuff like fire and water and the like."

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"Four classical elements?" Isabel pondered that for a moment, leaning in to look at his bracers. "That means they probably have at least Discovery and Thaumaturgy in them, too. Hm. I wonder if they give stuff like this to students to see what they can do with them."

Figures, she's got a streak of nerd in her. Just when the dude might have thought she was cool, for a kid. Then she realized--he was just 'big dude' to her and--that wouldn't work.

"I'm Isabel Knight, who're you?"

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"The name's Jecht!" He lifted a confident fist, grinning and showing off one of those bracers all at once. "Unless you're talking blitzball or bala-inlota, and then it's the Great Jecht at a minimum!"

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

Isabel laughed at that--but it was delighted, not derisive. "Well, it's not a bad thing to know your strengths, right? I don't...think I know what Blitzball is..."

Though she seemed a bit confused at that. Felt like she might be missing something. "But I've been meaning to try out for bala-inlota, I just do a lot, it keeps slipping through the cracks! So maybe I'll see you on the team, then, Great Jecht?"

Since no one else seemed to be accosting her about the airship yet, she was considering ducking and running while she had the chance!

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"Good luck if you do." Actually, that bracelet had a lot of potential for the sport, didn't it? That might just give her the edge she needed... Ought to be interesting to see, that's for sure. "I'll look forward to it!"

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"I'll have to make a point of it. It's not like I've got trouble with my schoolwork, I've just been sparring sometimes after school." She got away with not doing it every day, not like poor Eleven--but then again, he kinda needed the work, even in her mind. It was good for Hendrik to make him go through drills.

Even if El didn't enjoy it.

Isabel remembered those days, long ago though they were. "Yeah, I bet there's a lot I can do with this thing, though." She already could do a lot with her bracelet even without playing bala-inlota...hadn't she just proved it?

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"Stop a charge, stop a spell, guide a ball? You bet. How well's it hold up against other magic?" Having dismissed the chaos around then as no longer a danger to anyone, Jecht leaned in a little to eyeball her gizmo like it might have instructions.

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"Not too bad, actually. I've used it to shield from spells before, but I don't do it that often." Only when she'd been helping Eleven against some bullies, but it had done the job she'd wanted it to do...

"Heck, I can use it as a whip too. Get it around someone's ankle and trip them? You bet." Isabel had a couple ideas of her own. "Not sure if that's legal though, or if it's anything goes."

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"Pretty much anything goes! You can't kill anyone and that's about it." One reason he'd managed to get anywhere with it was knowing blitz tactics and strategies, the kind of stuff that could be adapted unexpectedly. And was still legal!

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"Oh, well, killing people in a game is kinda lame anyway, so that's good!" Isabel said. "I guess I probably ought to try to do some more research on it, but it already sounds kind of physical, which is up my alley anyway."

Though she was the kind of girl who tended to mesh mental and physical exercise, anyway.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"Hey, you want an in, you say the word. I'll get you a chance to show 'em what you can do!" Jecht balled one fist up, somewhere between encouragement to achieve and encouragement to violence. Both of which would be necessary. "The more people we get out there, the better a showing we make for the Sundered!"

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"I don't know if I need your help!" Not that Isabel didn't appreciate the offer--she really did. But she also figured that she could make a good enough showing on her own. Well. She hoped.

"Then again, I suppose I could always drop in when you practice and see what I'm getting myself into..."

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"'Course ya do! And if you don't, take it anyway! It ain't every day the Great Jecht offers someone a leg up!"

Sorry about the ego there, kid.

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"Never heard of him," she teased. Ego, indeed. Her dad wasn't nearly so bad, though Morgan's ego was healthy enough. Isabel grinned to lessen the blow, though.

"I'm a little cautious. So yeah, I'll see what I'm getting into, and then I'll let you know, okay? I do appreciate the offer, really!"

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"Yeah, get your head out from under a rock all around!" Jecht could handle a little teasing when it was from a brat. Once she figured out what she could get, then she'd sing a different tune!

[hyperdrivemonalisa]

"Oh please, spare me." Isabel rolled her eyes, unable to help laughing. "Okay, okay. I'll see you around, Great Jecht. It's been real."

Well, it had been. He was pretty cool for an old guy, she guessed.

[sublimelymagnificentblitz]

"See you in the stands, kid!"

She'd show up! How could she not, after a day like today? And another fan would be born!