Mod Account for Diatu Magicademy ([personal profile] magicademymods) wrote in [community profile] diatuooc2021-07-23 03:56 pm
Entry tags:

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.)
ronstadt: (in a weird place now)

Arrival

[personal profile] ronstadt 2021-07-26 04:09 am (UTC)(link)
Kid with untamable hair, meet older dude with equally untamable hair. Ronstadt glances over at Harry and chuckles softly.

"I'm thinking it's the right place at the right time, even if I wasn't expecting it, to be perfectly honest. What about you?"
phoenixwiz: (When He Smiles)

[personal profile] phoenixwiz 2021-07-26 08:07 am (UTC)(link)
“So far, it’s been going fine for me, though I wasn’t expecting to come here in the first place,” Harry replies to Ronstadt, “I was on way to my work in a cafe in Camelot’s city centre when I found myself in the arrival lobby earlier.”

(OOC: I’m taking Harry’s CRAU from Isle of Avalon right now, so expect to him to discuss some of his adventures in Avalon.)
ronstadt: (disco mystic)

no worries on the CRAU

[personal profile] ronstadt 2021-07-26 02:23 pm (UTC)(link)
"Camelot?" His eyes widen. "As in, King Arthur and the holy grail and 'it's a silly place' Camelot? Seriously?"

He looks over Harry's clothes, trying to figure out if they look like they came from anywhere near something like a Renaissance faire.
phoenixwiz: (We Need to Talk)

[personal profile] phoenixwiz 2021-07-26 04:33 pm (UTC)(link)
“Yes, that Camelot, but it’s a lot different from what I have remembered from learning it in school,” Harry answers him, “It’s almost similar to what most English cities has back in my world but there were things like social media and magical smartphones.”

To be fair, his cafe uniform wasn’t exactly what one calls a travel outfit to a magical school. He should’ve known that well enough since his school days at Hogwarts, but then again, he has been in Avalon for so long that it could be feel normal for him these days working in a cafe for months.
ronstadt: (Default)

[personal profile] ronstadt 2021-07-26 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
"Weird. But then again, I'm used to weird, so... cool, I guess? I'm curious what kinda magic you can put in a smartphone, though. I've got a witch friend who needs to be all over that. She doesn't believe in just texting a guy when she wants to meet to go over stuff ... I was in a record store, one time? And this giant heavy metal dude just leans in next to me and hollers: RONNIE! MEET ME AT THE CORNER OF 4TH AND CAHUENGA! OH BY THE WAY, THIS IS HATTIE. ... It was very. Very. Freaky. Thought the dude was gonna eat me alive for a second."
phoenixwiz: (Channeling My Inner Hermione)

[personal profile] phoenixwiz 2021-07-26 05:47 pm (UTC)(link)
“There are plenty of technomages in Camelot who have worked on the smartphones and the main social network for otherworlders like me in Avalon: that’s pretty impressive compared to my school causing too destruction onto similar tech in my world,” Harry is more than happy to reply to his question.

When Ronstadt brought up a witch friend of his who probably needed some of that tech, he does chuckle for a bit before he spoke again, “Wow, that is really interesting to hear. That is really something to behold.”
ronstadt: (in a weird place now)

[personal profile] ronstadt 2021-07-26 08:12 pm (UTC)(link)
"Your school didn't let you have phones? Jeez, destroying them seems a little extreme. From what I've heard, people in L.A. just make you like, put them in a basket on the teacher's desk or something. Been a long time since I was in school, though. Real long."

In truth, he couldn't even remember his school years, but you didn't unload all your crazy magic amnesia issues on a kid you had maybe ten, fifteen years on within ten minutes of meeting him.

"Tell me about it. The guy started twitchin' and makin' these weird gurgling noises right before it happened. I thought he was gonna blow up. That's the thing about being new to magic: you can't recognize any of the spells so you don't know what to expect, you know?"
phoenixwiz: (Confidence Within)

[personal profile] phoenixwiz 2021-07-26 08:36 pm (UTC)(link)
“I’ll admit, the big reason why technology couldn’t be in my school is due to how magic and technology would clash in my world, although some people have found workarounds to solve the issue,” Harry elaborates further.

“Yeah, it’s going to be a big and long learning curve from what I have learned in my school and in the Isle of Avalon: I still can’t believe that I get to keep the magic from those two worlds and it did took me a while to get used to my old magic again since I spent a long time in Avalon that I found myself being more comfortable with moving things around and conjuring up elements than using wand magic from my world.”
ronstadt: (to die in LA)

[personal profile] ronstadt 2021-07-27 01:46 pm (UTC)(link)
"Wait, you already went to a magic school?"

Ronstadt frowned. All this time he could have been learning, and instead he had a head full of fake memories. He wondered if Hattie was really right about his parents having wanted to protect him. It gave him a funny feeling, one he wasn't sure he liked.

"You're way ahead of me already. Maybe you could gimme a few pointers?"
phoenixwiz: (Sneaky Little Fella)

[personal profile] phoenixwiz 2021-07-27 02:43 pm (UTC)(link)
“Yes, I sure did. I had attended one in Scotland for around six years,” he replies with a big grin to Ronstadt, “Back home, we use plenty of spells and incantations to get the effects we want, and yes, a majority of wizards and witches in my world do use wands. Wandless magic can be tricky to master, even at a young age, and it does take time and practise to get it under control.”

“Also, just watch out when handling the Dark Arts: they were mostly used for unsavoury ends back home, although some good wizards and witches like me have also used it for more noble goals. Avalon has me seeing a lot of people using magic through various means, I even know of a friend who uses her gun to perform curses and dark spells.”
ronstadt: (disco mystic)

[personal profile] ronstadt 2021-07-28 02:34 pm (UTC)(link)
"Wow, that's crazy. I mean, in a neat way. I see a lotta crazy, too." He nodded a few times, thoroughly impressed. "I know what you mean about the dark stuff. We have these wizards in my world: Shadowmancers, really nasty guys who can detach their shadows and send them to attack people. They mark magic-users, so that other creatures can ... well. Maybe the less I tell you about the Longcoats, the better. They're not pretty."
phoenixwiz: (We Need to Talk)

[personal profile] phoenixwiz 2021-07-28 03:25 pm (UTC)(link)
“Thanks for informing me about them, I might need to watch out for those people if ever they show up in the school,” Harry nods in turn after Ronstadt told him about the dark magic users in his world.

He could tell that the man knows a lot about magic in his world, which is really interesting, although he wasn’t sure if Ronstadt had magic before coming here.

Then a realization dawns on him that he nearly forgot introduce himself to the guy, “I’m really sorry if I forgot to tell you my name. I’m Harry Potter, but just call me Harry. Originally from the county of Surrey in England, but I was in Camelot on the Isle of Avalon before all of this came about, and even before that, I was repairing my wand in an office inside my school.”
ronstadt: (to die in LA)

[personal profile] ronstadt 2021-07-29 08:21 pm (UTC)(link)
"That's ... wow, that's a heck of a road here," he said, holding out a hand for a shake. "Name's Ronstadt. I'm from L.A., in California. I'd just popped off my first real spell before I turned around and wound up here ... been trying to figure out my powers for a year or so. Didn't even know I could do magic until then. Mostly I just thought I could see all the stuff it causes. Creatures, auras ... Vile Lurks. That's what the Shadowmancers call their shadows when they're out hunting, by the way."
phoenixwiz: (When He Smiles)

[personal profile] phoenixwiz 2021-07-29 08:34 pm (UTC)(link)
“Yeah, it is a very long story,” he admits to the older man before he realizes that Ronstadt was still getting used to magic.

He could relate to the sudden realization of having magic as he was once unaware of magic’s existence until he was 11. If only Ronstadt could know of how his uncle and aunt gaslighted him for so long.

“Oh, so you’re getting used to having magic? That’s relatable, Ronstadt; I didn’t know that I could do magic growing up too until I was 11 years old. I’m pretty sure that we can learn many new things in here.”
ronstadt: (saturday night ate our lives)

[personal profile] ronstadt 2021-07-29 10:38 pm (UTC)(link)
"Eleven? I mean ... from where I sit that's still not a bad start." Harry had about a decade and a half head start on him, comparatively.

"But hey, I figure, we're gonna be stuck here, there'll be plenty of time for long stories, yeah?"
phoenixwiz: (Confidence Within)

[personal profile] phoenixwiz 2021-07-30 02:29 pm (UTC)(link)
“I do agree as well,” Harry answers in good humor, “There must be plenty of stories that we can share, along with what the subjects in this school can offer to us.”

So far, he’s starting to like the guy a lot: Ronstadt didn’t get all upset at him for talking about magic the same way Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia often reacted to him; besides his world also has magic and he has lived through seeing many things magical too. It was a nice change he has been dealing with since Avalon where he doesn’t have to worry about the Statute of Secrecy when chatting about magic, and the same is now prevalent in Diatu too.
ronstadt: (saturday night ate our lives)

feel like making this game canon?

[personal profile] ronstadt 2021-08-02 06:56 pm (UTC)(link)
"Do you know where they're putting you, yet?" He glanced down at the robes in his hands. "I hear these things are color-coded."
phoenixwiz: (Sneaky Little Fella)

[personal profile] phoenixwiz 2021-08-02 07:49 pm (UTC)(link)
When Ronstadt mentions to him about the color coding of the robes, it actually reminds him of how Hogwarts has their students sorted into color-coded houses: red and gold, blue and bronze, yellow and black, and green and silver.

Harry then looks at the colors of his new school robes and see that it’s in silver and black, “It looks like I’m being sent to Aer et Calculum. Which house did they sent you to? This is reminding me of how my old school placed students into houses with specific colors assigned to them.”
ronstadt: (in a weird place now)

[personal profile] ronstadt 2021-08-02 10:03 pm (UTC)(link)
"Oh, hang on." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the 18-page sheaf of rolled up pages that Headmaster Birony had written him, flipping to the last page. It took a moment of squinting at the word before he decided to just take a crack at pronouncing it.

"Valhudor," he said, putting an emphasis on the 'hu' as he held the paper out to Harry. "You know magic more than I do, do you figure I said that right?"

He had a slight fear that the garish red and orange coupled with his hair would make him look like a walking bonfire, but that was just a chance he was going to have to take.
phoenixwiz: (Sneaky Little Fella)

[personal profile] phoenixwiz 2021-08-03 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
“Yep, that’s definitely correct,” Harry nods in agreement, “I remember that my old acceptance letter from my old school had two pages much like the letters we got have 17 pages. It does sound a little similar to Latin, although I haven’t practising my world’s magic in so long, it’ll definitely take me a while to do it justice.”

He does try his best to pronounce as accurate Valhudor’s name as much as he can, though he wasn’t sure if he’s doing it right.
ronstadt: (Default)

[personal profile] ronstadt 2021-08-05 01:03 am (UTC)(link)