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.)
phoenixwiz: (Confidence Within)

[personal profile] phoenixwiz 2021-07-28 10:08 am (UTC)(link)
“It’s a bit of a whirlwind right now,” he answers in return while absent-mindedly scratching his head, “But I am doing fine at the moment. It’s a lot like going to Hogwarts again if I’m being honest: I haven’t seen the school in, oh wow, months since I went all over the universe.”
aquawayfinder: (Never Give up hope)

[personal profile] aquawayfinder 2021-07-28 11:08 am (UTC)(link)
"After class, I would love to hear more about your adventures. We never really did have much time to just sit and talk." She gave him a warm smile.
phoenixwiz: (When He Smiles)

[personal profile] phoenixwiz 2021-07-28 11:28 am (UTC)(link)
“Oh sure, Aqua, I’ll tell you all about it, and believe me, it’s a very wild adventure in Avalon in the nine months I was there,” he is more than happy to recount his Avalon tales, “And the weirdest thing about is I didn’t remember my time in the Magic Kingdoms while I was in there and they just came back to me upon arriving here.”
aquawayfinder: (Never Give up hope)

[personal profile] aquawayfinder 2021-07-29 01:33 pm (UTC)(link)
She nodded. "That can happen, oddly enough. I've experienced it several times myself. It is an odd sensation, but not intrinsically a bad one."
phoenixwiz: (Sneaky Little Fella)

[personal profile] phoenixwiz 2021-07-29 07:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Harry couldn’t but to relate to Aqua’s situation as well: maybe it’s not bad to deal with the world hopping and memory forgetting while in another world.

“Yeah, that’s pretty relatable, Aqua. I guess that I’m not the only one who has gone through this,” he lets out a shy faint smile at the Keyblade Master.
aquawayfinder: (Touched)

[personal profile] aquawayfinder 2021-07-31 05:47 am (UTC)(link)
"I have found that no experience is nearly as unique as we seem to think it is. There are often people we can find to commiserate with, and then we can learn together."
phoenixwiz: (Channeling My Inner Hermione)

[personal profile] phoenixwiz 2021-07-31 07:13 am (UTC)(link)
“There is a good thing to know,” Harry nods in agreement, “We can share insights and stories and see how things changed for us after leaving home.”
aquawayfinder: (Never Give up hope)

[personal profile] aquawayfinder 2021-07-31 07:20 am (UTC)(link)
She nodded. "And since it is unlikely to stop, how to prepare for the future."