Test Drive Reloaded! #1

[magicademymods]

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.)

Comments

Barbara Maitland | Beetlejuice the Musical

[mrsmaitland]

Welcome

Barbara wasn't entirely sure what to make of all of this. On the one hand, it was...nice to be allowed out of the house without having to worry about ending up in the wastelands of Saturn. On the other hand, Adam wasn't with her.

She was still very much a ghost, still very much dead, and she wasn't quite certain if she'd be even remotely useful to these nice people, or, if she'd be successful in learning any magic. But, she was a little excited to try.

Because, magic was gosh darn cool!

Barbara gave a nearby person a sunny smile. "This is interesting, isn't it?"

[burningbrighter]

"It really is," Sunset answers happily. Magic...it's been tough, trying to learn to understand it, but it has so much potential! And that's exciting. She hopes all these new Sundered arriving means something good is about to happen.

"Have you been to class yet? What's your favorite?"

Welcome

[travelpants]

“Yeah it is very interesting so far, though I never had magic before,” Lena sheepishly replies to the older woman beside her.

She hasn’t gotten over the revelation that magic is actually real and that she could do magical things like on the shows, films, and books she has come across at home. No idea of how Carmen, Bridget, Tibby, and, heck, even Effie and Kostos would have reacted to this but so far, she hasn’t come across anything terrible so far.

“So are you a witch back home?” she asks Barbara.

Re: Welcome

[mrsmaitland]

"Me either! I mean, not when I was alive, I learned a few things when I died, but, that's really not the same, I don't think."

She smiled. "No, not a witch. Just a ghost and housewife. Kinda dull, I know."

[travelpants]

Oh wait, she's already dead back home? That's a little awkward, but it doesn't mean that Lena is starting to take a liking for the older woman: Barbara looks like to be really a nice lady and being a ghost doesn't seem detract their chat at all.

"Oh! You're actually a ghost in your world, ma'am?" she asks to make sure that she wasn't getting confused, "That sounds pretty interesting. Life back home seems to be dull as well. Like, hardly any magic could be found at all."

Besides maybe having a pair of jeans that could fit her and her friends' bodies effortlessly and guide them through their separate journeys, but Lena thought that the Pants feels more pedestrian compared to Barbara's ghost state.

[mrsmaitland]

"I am, my husband and I---well, we died together in an accident in our home. The bright side is, we're still together. The downside, I mean, aside from being dead--is we're stuck in our house for eternity."

[travelpants]

“Oh dear, I’m really sorry that you and your husband couldn’t go outside of your home in your world again,” Lena nods solemnly, “But at least you two still managed to stay together even in death.”

This really saddens her how much what happened to Barbara and her husband resembles to how Kostos’ parents and little brother were killed in a freak road accident years ago.

[temptationaccomplished]

Aziraphale gave the poor girl a sideways glance and a tight smile that was very politely trying not to say Only interesting? He took a sip of the punch he had acquired from the Great Hall.

"I'm afraid this is only scratching the surface of it," he finally said, watching the collective chaos that is the Diatu school and the influx of newcomers still gathering their bearings. "Things only get more ...interesting as time goes on. Don't get me wrong; it is a lovely place and the people are just wonderful, but ...goodness it does not do anything by halves."

[mrsmaitland]

"It's nice to be able to leave my house, even if it wasn't my idea, and my husband isn't here." Barbara confided. "I'm glad to hear this place stays entertaining, how exciting!"

Re: Barbara Maitland | Beetlejuice the Musical

[mal_contented]

She had no clue, when she replied, how connected this woman was to multiple people she knew from the Kingdom.

But blond hair and that smile? Gross.

"Interesting?" she asked with a dismissive snort. "Guessing your home life must be really boring then if this is all it takes to impress you."

Re: Barbara Maitland | Beetlejuice the Musical

[mrsmaitland]

"I've been told repeatedly my life was boring. I'm working on having a more interesting death."

She paused, thinking of someone with a slight frown. "Maybe not as interesting as it was for a while there, though. But, still! More interesting than my and Adam's lives were before we died. A happy medium, you know?"

Re: Barbara Maitland | Beetlejuice the Musical

[mal_contented]

"A happy medium? Death? Is this supposed to be a joke? Because I'm pretty sure those are actually supposed to make people laugh."

Re: Barbara Maitland | Beetlejuice the Musical

[mrsmaitland]

"Pfffft, no, that was unintentional. Adam's the one that makes the bad jokes." Barbara's smile didn't waver in the face of Mal's coldness.

Re: Barbara Maitland | Beetlejuice the Musical

[mal_contented]

"So basically what I'm hearing is there is nothing interesting about you whatsoever?"

Why... did these names seem... familiar?

Re: Barbara Maitland | Beetlejuice the Musical

[mrsmaitland]

"Middle class, suburban, white, and boring. I've been told. I don't mind, I'm not existing for the entertainment of other people. I'm taking chances and trying to make the most of those chances that are presented to me now."

Barbara's expression softened a little. "I'm Barbara Maitland, by the way. I know I'm not super interesting to talk to, but, thank you for chatting with me for a while anyway. Where I'm from, most people can't see the dead."

Re: Barbara Maitland | Beetlejuice the Musical

[mal_contented]

"Yeah, well I'm not most...." Wait.

Wait.

You can almost see the moment it all clicked.

She rubbed her forehead. "Do you know a girl, about my age, named Lydia? Or a stripy annoyance who couldn't shut up if his non-life depended upon it?"

Re: Barbara Maitland | Beetlejuice the Musical

[mrsmaitland]

"OH, are you one of Lydia's friends?! I'm so happy to meet you! Do you know her from school?"

Her face fell into an expression of horror. "You've met him too?"

Re: Barbara Maitland | Beetlejuice the Musical

[mal_contented]

"Wow. Okay, give me a minute here for that double whammy." She shook her head.


"Alrght, looks like it is once upon a time time. Last place I was before here? Two of her, one of him. And trust me, one was too much. Question is, which her and which him do you know?" She crossed her arms, studying her. "See, the way I see it, the better her had the worse him. Well, perhaps not worse, since I would have been allowed to destroy the other one, I suppose. This one I had to attempt to tolerate." So much disgust there.

Re: Barbara Maitland | Beetlejuice the Musical

[mrsmaitland]

"Two Lydias...and two...of him....exist?" Barbara wasn't sure any one place could stay standing with that much combined chaos. Thank God only one version of him arrived wherever it was.

"I have no way of knowing, but, I don't really like hearing you calling any version of Lydia better than the other. I'm sure they're both great girls. And if they both had to go through that awful wedding---"

Barbara looked at the somewhat angry girl before her. "Do you need to talk about it?"

Re: Barbara Maitland | Beetlejuice the Musical

[mal_contented]

"Need to talk about it? Do I look that weak?" she asked, giving her a look. "Besides, I'm not about to talk about her behind her back, fight or no fight."

Re: Barbara Maitland | Beetlejuice the Musical

[mrsmaitland]

"Talking about things that bother you isn't weakness."

Barbara paused. "I meant, about whatever Lawrence did to upset you." Despite his assurances that it didn't matter if Adam or Barbara said his Name, she was taking no chances. "But, I'm sorry that you had a fight with Lydia."

Re: Barbara Maitland | Beetlejuice the Musical

[mal_contented]

"Yeah, sorry, not buying that lovey-dovey nonsense. And I can handle him." Or could if Lydia would just let her. "Nothing he did could upset me that long. He's not that big a threat, no matter what he chooses to think." As to the last, she shrugged.

What good - or evil - did sorry ever do for anyone?

[ronstadt]

"That's sure one way to put it." The other blond in his black skinny jeans and punk rock t-shirt gave her an uneasy smile and held out his hand.

"Ronstadt. Nice to meetcha."

[mrsmaitland]

"Barbara Maitland, it's nice to meet you too!" She shook his hand, forgetting for the moment that her handshake was...well, icy to the touch.

[ronstadt]

Thankfully, he's used to ghosts and all manner of supernatural stuff, so the chill only takes him by surprise. He's not startled or freaked out, smiling as he responds. "You think they have matching gloves for these uniforms we're getting? I don't mind it, but... some people, you never know."

He's not exactly the most socially adept, Babs, sorry.