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.)
knightofbooks: (Default)

[personal profile] knightofbooks 2021-07-30 02:26 am (UTC)(link)
It's ok, Erik. Both of ya are new. Though... Vio would have the time, if he ended up liking it enough to keep up. Maybe the former hero would get upset at the cheating then.

"...Hm." Vio knew enough to know that uncertainty wasn't great in a game like this. From what he'd seen, it was just as important to bluff as it was to have a strategy. Though if the bluff worked was usually another story.

So he calmly studied his hand, idly paying attention to Erik for his next move, or if he'd end his turn.
wagerofloki: (020)

[personal profile] wagerofloki 2021-07-30 02:43 am (UTC)(link)
The teen didn't seem to let up out of her anger. She didn't really buy into his promise or explanation as to how everything got all tied up.

"Still gettin' the hang'f it? You sure's hell got my shoes tied together without any effort."

She backed off and just about pouted.

"I'm fine. Nothin' a little time won't buff out." A pause. She was still not pleased, but her curiosity got the better of her. "How'd you do it?"
wagerofloki: (042)

[personal profile] wagerofloki 2021-07-30 02:54 am (UTC)(link)
As he spoke on some hyperbolic cosmic scale of proportion, she rolled her eyes. She didn't seem to be shocking her like maybe he thought it would.

"Yeah, yeah, some fuckhead up above tryin' to crush all the people 'neath 'em." She grouched and looked down at her hands so she could pick at the skin around her nails. "What else is fuckin' new?"
whose_son_am_i: (Avengers--subtle smile)

[personal profile] whose_son_am_i 2021-07-30 02:55 am (UTC)(link)
She might find his response interesting. Loki smiled, not entirely a nice one, but not a threatening one. "Sounds like you have experience being ground down then. Expecting more of the same here?"
wagerofloki: (041)

[personal profile] wagerofloki 2021-07-30 03:19 am (UTC)(link)
His response did make her hesitate. She hadn't been quite expecting that response. She lifted her gaze back up, but she didn't look at him.

"Be stupid not to. Setting might change, but people don't. Strong'll always try'n crush those beneath them."
whose_son_am_i: (Thor-3/4ths profile thoughtful)

[personal profile] whose_son_am_i 2021-07-30 03:23 am (UTC)(link)
"Yet here we are. With strong magic within us that will cause our death if we don't learn to use it, on an entirely new world." Dry amusement in his voice. "What do you make of it, I wonder."
sciencegirl: (038)

[personal profile] sciencegirl 2021-07-30 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
She exchanges the stockpile, only briefly wondering why it is that Loki collected his own sum of them. Mostly she's just happy to have the same amount of them. A curious noise at the sudden disappearance of the wands and she's once again paying attention.

She has a tape measurer stretched between two locks of hair, already primed for data accumulation.

"Alight, what should I normally expect from that?" She asks.
sciencegirl: (1 4 9)

[personal profile] sciencegirl 2021-07-30 03:27 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah! But they're so cute!" They're not actually that cute. But Entrapta? Seems to find them completely adorable, contrary to what most people might think. "Sure their intelligence is simple, but something with a simple intelligence can find their activities unpleasant. It seems like we should find a way to make them pleasant!"

Wait, how does one make golem treats.

"Okay, so what is it that one can offer golems to make them more comfortable." She rubs her chin with a lock of hair, before she adds, "My name is Entrapta, by the way."

She doesn't sound offended. She's just letting her know because that did sound like a filler name and an identifier is relevant information at the moment.
whose_son_am_i: (Do you hear how you sound?)

[personal profile] whose_son_am_i 2021-07-30 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
"Well, I can still feel the wand within my hand, as this is the one that turns invisible." As for the minor spells. "Wands are new to me, as I've never needed them before." That's why he was here though, along with everyone else apparently.

Moving the invisible wand to trace one of the spells he'd learned here. "This should produce a spell, though what kind I don't know." Fire--it was a fire spell. As a small fire started on one of the tables.
bazooka_girl: (name's ace)

are you trying to get me on an FBI wanted list?

[personal profile] bazooka_girl 2021-07-30 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
"A bunch of stuff. Most of which I can probably find. The rest we can make up as we go." A wild grin. "I guess that means you want to help?"
wagerofloki: (082)

[personal profile] wagerofloki 2021-07-30 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
She gave a small chuckle at his last comment. There was an almost nervous titter to it as if he'd caught her in something.

"Just startin' to think maybe this isn't some weird trip'r a dream."

A pause.

"Don't really know what to make'f it. Head's not really wrapped 'round all this. Magic's a thing in games where I'm from, not somethin' real. Everyone's got shit like this in 'em..." She showed her left palm, the interface jack in the heel of her hand.
whose_son_am_i: (poker face in shadow)

She is free to pull away of course.

[personal profile] whose_son_am_i 2021-07-30 03:42 am (UTC)(link)
Hmm, interesting. Loki didn't ask, just reached out a hand to grasps hers and pull it closer for a better look if he could. Studying it, before blue-green eyes looked at her. "This connects you to something, doesn't it? But I am unfamiliar beyond that. The shape of it and your words give me the clues however..."
wagerofloki: (017)

[personal profile] wagerofloki 2021-07-30 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
When he took her hand she grew very stiff and her eyes went very wide. Every muscle in her body was coiled to strike out and fight. Given where they were, that spelled a certain kind of disaster, so she simply froze instead.

Her green eyes met his blue-green and when he spoke it was as if he pulled out whatever pin was keeping her system so tight. She blinked at him but didn't otherwise break the gaze.

"Hook into computer systems. Computers, cars, apartment systems, security, vending machines. Whatever." She kinda shrugged.
whose_son_am_i: (poker face in shadow)

[personal profile] whose_son_am_i 2021-07-30 04:00 am (UTC)(link)
"I see." Loki said simply. "You don't even realize this is a kind of magic all of it's own, do you?" A slow, almost mocking smile accompanying his words. He let go of her hand.

"Where I'm from, magic and what others know as science are often intertwined in such a way as to be one and the same."
Edited 2021-07-30 04:01 (UTC)
wagerofloki: (029)

[personal profile] wagerofloki 2021-07-30 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
Val blinked at him, confused by the statement. Computers, this cyberware, and associated systems - it was just normal every day everything. It was so mundane to her. She took her hand back slowly, her right hand gripping her left as if retaking a possession he was handing back to her.

"Magic? Like what they're tryin' to teach here? How's all that work into computers?" As if there wasn't any other branch of science.
scotch_egg: (grunt)

[personal profile] scotch_egg 2021-07-30 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
It wasn't Anthony. Was but wasn't. Not the same wasn't that had done this, but wasn't the one that was his. Wasn't his because there wasn't a his to have. Anthony would have never said: 'you're injured' as if it was just a casual question. He would have hovered over Alec and demanded he do something about it. He'd be halfway to hospital or whatever they had in this godforsaken place.

"My mistake." Alec looked away, dragged a hand over his face. "I'm fine, don't worry about it." He folded his arms and tried not to look ill.
whose_son_am_i: (Thor--3/4th profile)

[personal profile] whose_son_am_i 2021-07-30 04:14 am (UTC)(link)
"At its very core it harnesses lightening--a primal force, to transmute it into power." It was that simple, but Loki wouldn't leave it there. "That is a form of magic in and of itself, but further--that these devices all talk to each other, and that you can simply plug-in any place you want, and still have access to any device connected? How do you not see that as magic?"

What was circuitry and programming but complicated weavings of spells intertwining? Signals sent through the air were plucked like strings and read by complex cantrips to be reproduced on a device. Magic.
Edited 2021-07-30 04:14 (UTC)
scotch_egg: (down)

[personal profile] scotch_egg 2021-07-30 04:15 am (UTC)(link)
"That's shit..." He'd never considered that. What the hell was it like to be an angel? Hard enough to be a human without having to please the big bastard upstairs, which Alec supposed really existed but wasn't about to dive headlong into that existential crises that he was still fending off by the skin of his teeth.

"Uniform.... God, I feel if I sleep I'll never wake up." He sighed. "An-- Crowley remembers you, doesn't he."

It felt strange calling him that but he may as well get used to it.
scotch_egg: (mild surprise)

[personal profile] scotch_egg 2021-07-30 04:21 am (UTC)(link)
"Trying to help? By getting yourself killed?" There was one bloody chance. He got out his wand and did a complex squiggle, shouting; "Recedo!"

The toilet recedo'd and Alce recedo'd in the other direction, slamming hard enough against the tiles to crack them a little and landing on the ground, dazed.
scotch_egg: (cannot deal)

[personal profile] scotch_egg 2021-07-30 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
Alec just stares a moment, wondering if he just saw a young woman round house kick a bloody toilet. It still seems raring for a fight and while Alec knows booking it is a bad idea given his condition, he also knows how to let professionals do their job-- so he books it, darting out of the room, slipping a little on the wet and skidding into the opposite wall. His heart jams in his ears loud and insistent and he takes deep breaths trying to calm down. Bloody universe hopping and he doesn't have a single damn pill.

"Get out of there as quick as you can," he bellows to her, voice hoarse. He can peel himself from the wall, but he doesn't know if he'll get far.
scotch_egg: (exhausted)

[personal profile] scotch_egg 2021-07-30 04:29 am (UTC)(link)
"It was at the place, the other place, I had these things for two months." He sighed. "At this point I don't want to risk making them worse. Anyway it doesn't hurt much." He just needed to get his hands on a saw, and file.

"Unless you've got something that'll guarantee I won't end up with hooves to match."
serpentinthegarden: (Another good profile)

[personal profile] serpentinthegarden 2021-07-30 05:21 am (UTC)(link)
He wasn't worried about it! Did he look worried about it? Nah! It was... just a tad gross standing so near to a blood soaked human. Any minute now he was going to collapse. He would end up as a bloody heap in the middle of the hall and all those kids would have to step over him.

Ngg...

Crowley stepped forward and blew a breath over the stranger's shoulder. Best stain lifting this side of Hell! The blood lifted itself off Alec's clothes and drifted away on the breeze like so much dust.

"Freebie. It was either that or step over you once you fainted."

He looked at the man again who still seemed pale and drawn.

"Are you still thinking about passing out?? Why not go to the school nurse? They have to have one somewhere."
serpentinthegarden: (Not so bad)

10 Most Wanted!

[personal profile] serpentinthegarden 2021-07-30 05:27 am (UTC)(link)
"I'm in."

His devilish grin briefly matched hers as he stood and dusted his dark pants free of those few leaves that had floated out of the tree to land upon them.

"I'll play janitor so you can get in and out of the men's without anyone slipping in behind you."

Less chance of anyone getting injured that way or her getting caught. Crowley would be the distraction!
scotch_egg: (sullen)

[personal profile] scotch_egg 2021-07-30 05:43 am (UTC)(link)
The casual display of immense powers gave him a chill right down to the core of him.

"Don't do that. Don't just change things. It's bad enough without you doing whatever the hell you call that. I'd rather be covered in blood than you rewriting everything with a flick of your fingers. I'm fine. Piss off." He may have shouted a bit, but he hated it-- it and this and everything involved.
serpentinthegarden: (Sofa brooding)

[personal profile] serpentinthegarden 2021-07-30 05:59 am (UTC)(link)
"You're not at all grateful?"

He shrugged but actually seemed quite pleased by that indeed. It was so much simpler that way! There was no 'thank yous' to be had, no awkward hugs... Being told to piss off he could deal with!

"Good. The last thing I need in this crazy day is some one being grateful. But if you have a problem with what I just did you are really going to hate it here, magic school and all."

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