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

[perfectenn]

Answering the call of his name, Tenn strolled out onto the battlefield to meet him. But he did not summon a shield for himself. The ringing of bells from his wrist made up his defense; he had the bracelet Eleven forged for him to thank for that.

Tenn offered him a brief, somewhat grim smile. "Still here, yes." Then he frowned; he wanted to say more, but they were under friendly fire. "Come on, I'll explain when we get out of here."

[bearshermark]

Curious, but true enough they didn't have a great deal of time to focus on conversation. Though there was something about that bracelet..

Eleven gave a glance down the hall, surveying the chaos, then dashed across the space just as soon as there seemed to be a lull in projectiles.

"You lead," he requested, "Things are still coming back to me."

[perfectenn]

Tenn took the same opening, but quickly pulled ahead. He spared Eleven a glance back, with a trace of concern. Coming back? Had it been longer than the last time?

He navigated the chaos deftly to the door. (He clearly had practice, what with the spells in the cafeteria malfunctioning every now and then and the rampaging golems.) Since Eleven was in his rival house, Tenn did not aim for either of their spires, but turned instead to one of the courtyards, away from the rush of staff and students.

"That was an unexpected adventure." Tenn paused to catch his breath. For all the fuss, his sense of humor held, and he could not resist adding, "Are Headmaster Birony's escapades one of the things coming back to you?"

[bearshermark]

Eleven flashed him a smile, feeling marginally lighter than when he'd left his own world, burdened by solemn duty.

"Not particularly," he answered, tipping his head, "I remember my house, that I became a priest, practiced Forging, some of my friends.." Though he did wonder about Birony and the time magic she had somehow employed so casually.

He glanced around the courtyard with fondness. "How long has it been, here? So much has happened, and it feels as though that was all so long ago."

[perfectenn]

Tenn brought a hand to his chin in thought, but did not look surprised. "I see... it's possible there's been another time discrepancy, and more time passed for you than here. It's been a few months."

Tenn took a closer look at Eleven; he appeared much the same. Not years, then? But rather than the time passed, what he really wanted to know was the circumstances.

"Was there anything... peculiar about when you left the academy? What is the last thing you remember?"

[bearshermark]

A few months. That both seemed right, and didn't. Eleven raised a hand to massage his forehead. To think, he hadn't even made it back to the past and already, it was beginning to perplex him.

"From here?" he hazarded, closing his eyes in an attempt to focus his memory. A few things jumped out to him, but what had happened last failed to reveal itself. "I remember there was a dance, and speaking to a dragon beneath the school somewhere.."

[perfectenn]

"The dance was quite some time ago. I suppose your memory is still returning. It must be difficult." Tenn sympathized in his own way, tone gentle. A lot must have happened on both ends.

He stiffened at the mention of the dragon. Though if Grieve only spoke to him... that could be a good sign. Just to check, and for his own peace of mind, Tenn asked, "You did return to your homeland, though?"

[bearshermark]

"Yes," Eleven said, expression easing. "A lot has happened since. For that time, I think I'd even forgotten this place. I didn't start to remember until I found myself here again. But it's been nice to see familiar faces again."

[perfectenn]

That required a pause from Tenn to process. It was something he'd wondered. How much would he remember if he were Sundered back? Would this feel like a dream? Or like remembering a normal day? And would he return to his dressing room without a second of delay, or would he find the city had moved on a year into the future - a future he was no longer a part of. That was terrifying to think about.

"You say a lot has happened... how long were you missed while you were gone from your world?"

Tenn tried to maintain an objective manner, but there was a note of hesitation as he pressed past his fear to ask.

[bearshermark]

He felt quiet, attempting to recall. The attempt quickly turned distressing as he now remembered two separate instances of it.

"The first time.." Working to focus on just one, as though the other didn't exist yet. "I awoke beneath the waves. Marina told me I'd been down there for months. Three, I think? After-" Eleven shook his head.

"But I don't remember her saying I'd gone from the world. I was only.. ah, recovering under her care during that time." But he hadn't actually died; just.. come worryingly close.

"The second time I went back- most recently- I don't recall that anyone said anything about it." That, he was reasonably certain of, now. "And this time, no one else should know what is happening, so I don't think they'll notice at all."

[perfectenn]

Distressing to Tenn as well, even if it was obvious his friend had not drowned. Perhaps the first trip had been rougher on him for some reason... because of unstable magic? The subsequent times seemed to have fared better in many ways. That was enough to alleviate the worst of Tenn's fears, but still left many questions.

"I see." Tenn took a breath, let it out, closed his eyes a moment. "I'm glad to hear you fared better this time." That would have inspired a smile in most instances, but Tenn still looked serious even by his normal standards.

"It sounds as though the magic that brought you here may be stabilizing. We should report this to the staff once they... finish cleaning up." The pies. The timestream. Everything.