diatuooc | 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.)

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

A very much none-the-wiser Sunset is about to slide down the banister on her way to class (still got a rebel streak, this one) when she overhears this. She tries to linger inconspicuously, shoving her nose in a book across the hallway, but that hair is obvious anywhere it goes.

This poor newcomer has to be warned! She'd hate to see him have a bad experience with magic so soon. So...let him make the transaction, and then she'll try to catch him.

"...have you been to the wand suppliers in town? I don't know if that one's safe, sir."

Oh, was she still here? Crowley hadn't noticed her behind that very inconspicuous book she had been reading.

"The forbidden one that students aren't supposed to go into? Nah, not yet, but it's on the 'to do' list."

He gave the wand in his hand a little shake like Tinkerbelle might while trying to activate the pixie dust.

"Why wouldn't it be safe?"

Sunset sighs and shakes her head. This gentleman has an ear out for trouble, doesn't he? Well. So does she. When the timing is right.

But for now she squints at the wand with clear suspicion. "He said he didn't know what spells they were forged with, so their magical effect could be anything. You could float off in a bubble, or be chased by birds, or anything you touch could turn to stone. And if he sells enough of those wands, it could be a while before the staff come by and help you."

She shrugs a shoulder. "I've been burned by uncontrolled magic enough times to not want anything to do with it, I guess."

"Sounds fun really. I've never floated off in a bubble before."

As waving the wand about without any skills or knowledge of the magical symbols they tended to use hadn't done any good he gave the thing a few firm taps on the nearest bannister.

"Maybe it's a dud. Do you need a magic spell? What do they say... hocus pocus, newport news?"

Sunset watched this with growing dread. Something was definitely going to go wrong here. Hundred percent chance.

"That's not quite how magic works here. You need to know the words and draw the symbols, but when you're starting with a wand that can't be trusted I don't know what'll happen. But if you insist on finding out...have you been to the labs yet? It's the safest place to practice."

Please, 110% chance. This was Crowley we were talking about here. While he didn't know any of this world's magical symbols his Earth had no small number of them. He went with one he was most familiar with, a pentagram. Good evil symbol that. He drew it lazily in the air between them.

"What good would a lab do? This isn't chemistry class."

The air between them began to glow, then crack, as a large red hand reached out from the void to snatch at Sunset.

"The lab would keep any damage from a misfire contained within its walls---aaah!"

Sunset jumped back to dodge the hand. She really should have seen that coming. She flicked her wrist in a series of quick motions, then folded her hands in prayer. A thin red shield appeared in front of her, hopefully for the hand to bounce off of. Even if it sizzled, or made other threatening noises.

"Who knows what that could've done?" She looked horrified.

The hand bounced harmlessly off the shield and disappeared back into the wand-created portal.

"Mn, it probably just wanted to get a high five."

Test Drive Reloaded! #1

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