Mod Account for Diatu Magicademy ([personal profile] magicademymods) wrote in [community profile] diatuooc2021-07-23 03:56 pm
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Test Drive Reloaded! #1


Test Drive #1




Welcome to Diatu (I Like Swords)

The Arrival Hall is all aflurry with activity! No one had expected so many Sundered to suddenly pop up, the staff find themselves desperately scrambling to keep up with the influx, and a bunch of new arrivals find themselves hanging out in the Hall lobby, waiting to be seen, sent home if possible, or counseled and prepared for student life if not. Rumors run like wildfire: some people believe they've been kidnapped by aliens, a worryingly persistent suggestion that this is a setup for a murder-tournament keeps circulating, and one or two nutcases insist that a dragon tinkered with the rules of magic and now they have to study at a magic school to survive. Pie stocks are grievously low, and thought Headmaster Birony herself appeared and began violating the rules of space and time to summon pies from the future, a second Headmaster Birony with an eyepatch, several war scars, and a wild hairdo appeared and promptly yelled at the first Headmaster for stealing her pies. A pie fight erupted. Pie stocks are even more grievously low now.

Still, here's your chance to talk to your fellow arrivals. Or aggressively attack the nearest target in an outrage (they set up a target dummy and labeled it VENT AGGRESSION HERE, and are trusting you guys on the honor system). Staff don't have time to talk, but they promise they'll get to you soon!

A Day In The Life

The sun is bright, the air is warm, a cool breeze blows across Anastara, clouds keep drifting directly through the island and engulfing people... it's summer on Ascelion, and the day is ripe for learning. Or as ripe as Diatu Magicademy ever can be -- though no one would trade the character and charm of the lively campus for some stodgy, regimented school more interested in forcing students into the mold than encouraging them to be their best, sometimes conditions in the Magicademy are a little inconvenient.

A toilet in Kedrigan Hall keeps clamping onto the butts of those who attempt to use it. Thus far, half a dozen students have been freed from its clutches by their friends, while reports of singed buttocks have increased twofold. (Yes, only twofold. Think about that for a minute.) Staff are on the lookout for a prankster rather than a commode, so as of yet the treacherous toilet has gone unpunished...

Not far away, a group of cleaning golems has occupied the promenade as part of an ongoing strike. As they possess only rudimentary intelligence, they believe this involves seizing objects from anyone who passes nearby and hurling them at a set of bowling pins. Meliandre Tomekin, Head of Groundskeeping, has set up shop across the Promenade; any student who wanders too close gets a big block of ice shoved into their hands, along with instructions to hold it still while she shows those reprobates what-for...

In the Great Hall proper, school clubs and activities have, as was inevitable, escalated competition for new students to yet another level which only isn't a war crime because it isn't part of a treaty yet: they've conscripted geese. Horrible geese, to be precise, who dispense flyers for various clubs with less subtlety than a nuclear holocaust. Some of them fight for dominance, others have teamed up to pin down innocent students and stuff leaflets down their throat, and one has a wand and is somehow casting Discovery spells?!

A Forgery!

"I tried a mass-Forging technique," the older student says, showing off the briefcase full of identical wands and a sign that says 'FOR $ALE CHEAP'. "Some of them are exactly what I intended, they self-correct runes, but the rest, well.. . I don't know, I can't tell, and I'm not really interested in finding out one by one, so... you buying?"

All sales final. No refunds. Caveat emptor. As for what the wands do, well... there's a reason he answered with an ellipsis when asked. On the other hand, maybe the effect isn't too terrible? Maybe it's even beneficial! Maybe the wand shoots out rainbows and muffins! Or maybe it just animates and strikes you vigorously about the head and shoulders...

Three Dragon War

Someone, we're not naming names, canons, or the color of eyes and the dragon to which they belong that forms said person's obsession, may or may not be indirectly responsible for the latest game craze sweeping Anastara: Three Dragon War, a collectible card game that features players as dragons, deploying spells, creatures, and Sundered against each other to destroy each and avoid the machinations of the Third Dragon. The awesome thing about the game is that the Third Dragon comes in all different forms: classic bundled-with-the-starter-pack Ire, super-rare Anastara Diatu, suspiciously-rare Cam Birony, ultra-common Large Eagull, and more. The concept of an outside force adding randomness to the battle and being manipulated in turn by cards means Three Dragon War is the hottest card game that's come along since the last card game that was the hottest that had come along came along.

Face-to-face, you find yourself in a duel over these cards and the magical images they summon. Can this untested deck come through if you believe in it? Or are statistics and probability actual things that actually happen? Dragon Battle! Jiao Long Fu!

There's One in Every Test Drive

Not every magical disaster is caused by some wayward student you don't know. Many of them are caused by you instead. To wit: you're on the spot in one of the magical labs, being called on to demonstrate a technique more advanced than others you've mastered so far. Failure is expected, and the wards should prevent any injury to others from a miscast spell. But will the sparks of your magic just sputter out and die? Or will you inadvertently mispronounce, misform, misshape, or miscalculate in a way that brings chaos to you and your lab partner?

(You could also manage to succeed in casting the spell, but that isn't very fun.)
mal_contented: (Um no.)

[personal profile] mal_contented 2021-07-28 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
"Ugh, you sound like Sylvando." Who she did not yet realize was also here.
wagerofloki: (075)

[personal profile] wagerofloki 2021-07-28 03:32 am (UTC)(link)
Her head perked up at the snort, and she looked at him when he spoke. He spoke in an oddly formal manner that she was just absolutely unaccustomed to. "How can it get more fucked'n closin' your eyes 'n just..." She straightened up and motioned generally before her at the grounds, the people, the world.
serpentinthegarden: (Paintball time)

[personal profile] serpentinthegarden 2021-07-28 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
"A form of gambling."

Where one could win anything from a shiny new Nickle to your friend's marbles... Ok, it was far too 'Mayberry'.

"Nah... you're right. It's probably all been replaced by some kind of app."

whose_son_am_i: (looking up)

[personal profile] whose_son_am_i 2021-07-28 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
"I can think of a few things." Not that Loki particularly cared to elaborate on his thoughts. "I have seen things across the Nine Realms and beyond, that are stranger than this."
king_of_egypt: (Regal)

[personal profile] king_of_egypt 2021-07-28 03:46 am (UTC)(link)
"Technically... we could if we used only monster cards and specified attack or defense."

.. but dice would not be that difficult to acquire, and they were a prerequisite to truancy. In the rules that were just made up on the fly. He did not have the same aversion to a standard deck of cards or their suites, and actually they could have benefitted from one of those as well. Very versatile those cards.

"It's a long story, but yes. Who knows maybe you'll wind up with a familiar of your own."

With a nod he accepted the dice from his mechanical bird thing and gave them a toss.

"Prepare yourself, since I don't intend to lose."

The number on the dice read: 12.
souls_of_roles: (Kyoko - Ready To Work)

[personal profile] souls_of_roles 2021-07-28 03:48 am (UTC)(link)
She nodded. "I always study hard. And I guess I'll be able to go to all my classes here, since I don't have filming till I get back home."
serpentinthegarden: (Another good profile)

[personal profile] serpentinthegarden 2021-07-28 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
Practically clean and very nearly sparkling his weigh shifted to one hip but the challenge flew right on by unaccepted. Eating contests weren't really up this demon's alley even hen the food tasted pretty good.

"Not really my scene, slop. You really seem to be getting into it though."

Considering that was her second helping of face-pie.

"Won't that make you sick?"
mal_contented: (Smug cross)

[personal profile] mal_contented 2021-07-28 03:56 am (UTC)(link)
"Guess I'm not as delicate as you are," she said with a smirk. "But then it is always the guys who talk big that are the weakest."

She was feeling quite smug and pleased with herself. "I won this one, candyman."
king_of_egypt: (Eye contact)

[personal profile] king_of_egypt 2021-07-28 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
[Ah- yes. There were always plenty of shenanigans plaguing the campus to preoccupy the staff]

Are you from one of the other schools, perhaps?

[Unable to shake the feeling that this was a role she was assuming quite readily and easily. He appreciated her not commenting on his actions, and ideally they would have nothing to worry about as is. As long as he was the only one in possession of a Millennium Item there should be no danger. Why, he would have to give into temptation and he'd already learned the risks.]

[To that bit about the records he couldn't help smiling]

Par for the course, I'm afraid.

[Or in other words, that was perfectly normal here]

Uh, I actually don't have one. It's just Atem. [Leaving out all the extraneous extra names and titles ancient Egyptians tended to bestow on themselves that is]
serpentinthegarden: (Nun staring)

[personal profile] serpentinthegarden 2021-07-28 04:05 am (UTC)(link)
That blank stare you are getting as you explain Duel Monster Fantasy Card games. Yes, nerd alert. Crowley's expression would not remain blank so long however. Not with a roll like that!

"12! Right from the start you are rolling a 12!?"

This did not bode well... When he could only manage to roll a six.

king_of_egypt: (Huh?)

[personal profile] king_of_egypt 2021-07-28 04:06 am (UTC)(link)
[Listening to Kaiba verbally stumble, is enough of an indicator that he needed to check his own behavior. Had he come across as sounding too accusatory? Atem made sure to brighten his tone, even if his concerns were still clouding his psyche.]

You couldn't? [An additional worry to pile onto the rest] I had just assumed... [Eyes searching the other man for anything out of place. What sort of damage could it do to the body to be held in some limbo? Was this... his fault? Kaiba had been seeking him out at the time...]

My experience was different from your own. I returned to the afterlife as if nothing had changed.. [Which should have clued him in that something was wrong. Kaiba should have been there at the point of his own departure.] Kaiba, does anything feel amiss? Are you alright?
temptationaccomplished: (gonna embarrass the hubby real good)

[personal profile] temptationaccomplished 2021-07-28 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
He handed over the book so that she could select a better option. Admittedly, he struggled sometimes to learn new things. Things were so very fascinating, and sometimes he dug in his heels and refused to budge, because change was difficult, but others time he jumped in whole-heartedly because it fascinated him, or tickled his intellectual fancy and he just wanted to consume all there was to know on a subject. Unfortunately, his skills, practice as he did, still did not measure up to what he could read about on the page.

"What goes into wishing magic?" Was it anything like miracles, he wondered, where you imagined something to be so, gave it a gentle nudge, and it was.
aquawayfinder: (Don't you dare die on me)

[personal profile] aquawayfinder 2021-07-28 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
"It is a skill I was learning recently," she said as she looked through the book, skimming for a simpler spell that could help. "In essence it is combining will and imagination for the act of creation or alteration. I am still a novice at it, however." Her magical skills were stronger in other fields.

"I could demonstrate, if you like."

She started going further back in the book, perhaps there was table of contents...
serpentinthegarden: (You can do proper magic)

[personal profile] serpentinthegarden 2021-07-28 04:28 am (UTC)(link)
"Whoa... whoa, delicate? You think I'm delicate just because I don't want to eat some gone off pie? I think that's intelligent, not delicate."

Then she had to go and use that nickname. Candyman. Candy-Man. Nope, that didn't ring any bells. Well, other than being the titular character in a gruesome horror movie. There was a character named Anthony in it so, maybe that was where the confusion spawned from.

"You didn't win anything. There was nothing on the line. It's not like we were squaring off to see who won control of the playground. And the name is Crowley, not sure where you got that Candyman thing from. Is that an attempt at a schoolyard taunt?"
qualityfriend: (troubled)

[personal profile] qualityfriend 2021-07-28 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
[She covers her mouth and looks away.]

You were killed. So you have no future in your own world, even if you can go back... I've met others in that position. I'd always hope they'd Ascend, so they could travel universes and keep living that way.
bearshermark: credit: <user name="morninglight"> (do what now)

[personal profile] bearshermark 2021-07-28 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
There- she was familiar.

Eleven offered a slight smile back, working to recall her name, though his attention swiftly tapered off into a puzzled frown.

"The train?" he repeated, the word itself unfamiliar. "I'm sorry, I don't understand."
therulesaretherules: (Haughty)

[personal profile] therulesaretherules 2021-07-28 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
I am the Deputy Headmistress at Cackle's Academy, a highly acclaimed school dedicated to the enrichment of young witches.

[ The term witches is said with more emphasis and a touch of an odd accent as she was more accustomed to dealing with the antics of young girls not young boys. ]

Just Atem? From that I can assume you are not from a witching family?
knightofbooks: (Hm?)

[personal profile] knightofbooks 2021-07-28 04:47 am (UTC)(link)
...Please tell him you're joking. Though, after a few moments and how nonchalant Spyro was, Vio could tell he was serious. Great, there was undead dragons, too?

"I see..." He thinks. Hopefully that doesn't happen again? "It's still a bit much..." But with another gaze back to the crowd- partly to keep an eye on stray pies- he does give a small smile. "Heh... Something I'd have to get used to. It's like my other counterparts, just on a wider scale."

And much more chaotic.
bearshermark: credit: <user name="morninglight"> (thoughtful)

[personal profile] bearshermark 2021-07-28 04:48 am (UTC)(link)
Eleven tipped his head, uncertain.

"Ah.. I'm not sure.."

He was hardly an authority on the matter, and had never seen a faerie as told by folktales. "But I'm not one, sorry."
bearshermark: credit: <user name="morninglight"> (smiles)

[personal profile] bearshermark 2021-07-28 04:50 am (UTC)(link)
Eleven nodded, taking a moment to let himself take in the increasingly familiar courtyard.

"We used to spar here, between classes," he recalled fondly, "I imagine we'll be doing so again soon, once we've settled."
king_of_egypt: (Standard)

[personal profile] king_of_egypt 2021-07-28 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
Unable to deny it- but consider games from another perspective! They were the ultimate test of cerebral fitness, pitting yourself against a myriad of opponents to see who could out play or out wit the other. Gods, he missed it.

"I'm afraid so. So come on, show me what you've got."

Leaning back and not even trying to hide his smug satisfaction.

"A six? What a pity."

On his next roll it was less impressive and yet still higher than a measly 6: 7.

"Two rolls in and you have yet to best even one of mine.."
serpentinthegarden: (Head bowed)

[personal profile] serpentinthegarden 2021-07-28 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, yeah, we've rolled once."

Atem twice but, keep your pants on. Or... skirt, whatever.

Crowley picked up the dice, blew on it once for luck as he had heard once this action was actually lucky, and then rolled a mighty and undefeatable 3!!

"Shit..."
king_of_egypt: (Impish)

[personal profile] king_of_egypt 2021-07-28 05:17 am (UTC)(link)
That explains a lot.

[Not that he was familiar with the school in question, mind you, just the attitude that comes with experience. She would be a stern educator, most likely, so it was a relief that Diatu hadn't put her on regular staff.]

Not if last names are a requirement. [He could have just said more but it was more amusing for him to draw this out] Magic is not foreign to me however.
mal_contented: (Regal Disdain)

[personal profile] mal_contented 2021-07-28 05:26 am (UTC)(link)
"I'd say it is no use to play dumb, but you're so good at it, it's almost convincing. Sadly for you, I'm not that gullible. Sell it to someone who is buying it. Because I'm not."
nobodys_puppet: (New kid in the Hood)

[personal profile] nobodys_puppet 2021-07-28 05:28 am (UTC)(link)
"Axel and I wound up on the train, and Roxas though he didn't remember this place. But then he left and Axel said we'd never be able to get here again." But she was here now. "So I just need to find all of Axel's friends and everyone and get us all back to the train."

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