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.)
whose_son_am_i: (poker face in shadow)

[personal profile] whose_son_am_i 2021-08-03 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
Loki turned and leaned his head on his upright knee, blue-green eyes watching her for a moment. "Would you like to see it?" Entirely serious in his question.
wagerofloki: (020)

[personal profile] wagerofloki 2021-08-03 03:06 am (UTC)(link)
Her distrust flashed in her eyes as she sharply turned to look at him.

"How can you do that?" There's an involuntary move to cover the jack in her hand, as if she was afraid of a virus or something.
whose_son_am_i: (Thor-3/4ths profile thoughtful)

[personal profile] whose_son_am_i 2021-08-03 03:09 am (UTC)(link)
Loki simply uncoiled one hand from around his knee and held it palm up. A small display of fireworks coalesced up from the upturned palm. "Like this." A pause, and an amused smile. "Relax. I won't hurt you. I have no reason to."
wagerofloki: (082)

[personal profile] wagerofloki 2021-08-03 03:17 am (UTC)(link)
Her brows raised and eyes actually widened some at the display. There was almost a child-like wonder on her face, but it lasted only a moment before she looked up to him and she remembered herself. She did her best to play it cool.

"Yeah, I'd like to see."
whose_son_am_i: (Thor--Casting an illusion)

[personal profile] whose_son_am_i 2021-08-03 03:22 am (UTC)(link)
Loki didn't laugh, but did give a slow blink at the child-like wonder. So, for all the hardness he sensed in her, she still held some innocence. Unlike him--he'd never be innocent again.

Shifting from his semi-curled up position, Loki moved to spread his hands out. It was harder here, his own magic much weaker than that of this world's own. But he could still do this. Taking a breath in and out, summoning his memories---before an illusion of Asgard formed in front of them. As if it were a film on a screen.

Asgard as it had been, and no longer was. And never would be again. Loki shut his yes, as he felt them begin to water. He would not show weakness or tears.
wagerofloki: (110)

[personal profile] wagerofloki 2021-08-03 03:37 am (UTC)(link)
For the first time, she actually turned towards him. She folded one leg up and rested it flat on the surface of the building, her other still hanging over the side, and she turned so she could better look at the illusion he conjured. She was too engrossed in the illusion to notice the way he closed his eyes.

She pointed to the palace, speaking in a small voice, filled with wonder. "This place reminds me of the pipe organ in a church that Padre sometimes let me stay in if the weather was bad." She gave the name of the church, not that it mattered, the Spanish rolling out of her mouth with well-practiced ease.

Her hand returned back to her lap as she looked at it. "Asgard looks really beautiful." She couldn't find anything else to say, too engrossed as she looked at the illusion and let her mind wander into what it would have been like to grow up and live there. How her life might have been different.
whose_son_am_i: (poker face in shadow)

[personal profile] whose_son_am_i 2021-08-03 03:44 am (UTC)(link)
He was listening, and opened his eyes again when the wetness had passed. Fortunately it passed quickly, and he dismissed the illusion. "....Thank you." Loki was kind of surprised to find he meant his words.

It had been a long day however, in a string of several long days recently. Several painfully long days.
wagerofloki: (100)

[personal profile] wagerofloki 2021-08-03 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
There's a sort of awkward quiet between them, but Val spoke up. She found herself earnest enough it surprised even her.

"Do you want to see Night City?"
whose_son_am_i: (poker face in shadow)

[personal profile] whose_son_am_i 2021-08-03 04:04 am (UTC)(link)
That had him raising an eyebrow, blue-green eyes studying her carefully. "If you want to show me, I would see it." Perhaps it was the earnest-ness with which she asked.
wagerofloki: (016)

[personal profile] wagerofloki 2021-08-03 04:15 am (UTC)(link)
Val fished into her pocket and pulled out something that looked like a smart phone. On the back of it was a popsocket with a little bee with pink hair. She tapped on the screen a couple of times, then spoke quietly to it.

"Agent, flythrough'f Night City."

She held the Agent like Loki had held out his hands. He would be able to see the way the screen was severely cracked, but it still projected a hologram just fine. The Agent would show a flythrough of the city, with large buildings with neon signs in some of the flashier districts, to tightly-packed neighborhoods with trash in the streets, and even adverts that were holographic and reached into the sky. There were people everywhere, from all walks of life, scurrying to and fro to where they needed to be. The division between the rich and the poor was obvious and incredible - three guesses which side of the divide Val was from.

There was a somber expression on her face as she watched the projection. She was finally accepting that this wasn't a dream or somehow all in her head. She was finally accepting that she wasn't going to be waking up at home.
Edited (fixed a link) 2021-08-03 04:18 (UTC)
whose_son_am_i: (poker face in shadow)

[personal profile] whose_son_am_i 2021-08-03 05:04 am (UTC)(link)
Yet she didn't accept this as magic... It almost had him shaking his head. Instead he turned to her, once more pulling up a long leg and looping his arms around it. Head leaning against his knee. "I can see why this place is an adjustment for you."
wagerofloki: (006)

[personal profile] wagerofloki 2021-08-04 06:24 pm (UTC)(link)
She watched the flythrough for a moment more, hesitating. She pushed a button on the side of her agent and the hologram video went away. Both of her hands wrapped around the Agent and she looked back up to Loki. She was trying very hard to not look as sad as she felt, but the weight was on her face.

"I mean this's gotta be quite a change for you too. This place's got some good views, but nothin' like what you showed me." Not to mention just the whole fact that they weren't in their home.
whose_son_am_i: (poker face in shadow)

[personal profile] whose_son_am_i 2021-08-04 06:50 pm (UTC)(link)
"My life has been full of changes for the last few days. What's one more?" Loki replied quietly, with a little shrug.
wagerofloki: (051)

[personal profile] wagerofloki 2021-08-08 03:28 am (UTC)(link)
"Yeah, I guess I get that," she said quietly to match Loki, her tone that of reflection as she looked down to the Agent in her hands. "Guess I just prefer things be less'f all this magic shit'n more'f just the same city streets I knew."
whose_son_am_i: (poker face in shadow)

[personal profile] whose_son_am_i 2021-08-08 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
"You'll survive and adapt." If she didn't, she would die. It was that simple. But based on talking to her, and what he had observed during this conversation, Loki suspected she'd survive and adapt.