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.)
unswervingcompanion: (I got it)

[personal profile] unswervingcompanion 2021-08-07 02:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"Safety is behind walls." Hendrik replied. Or possibly back in one's home world, but he didn't make any mention of that. Besides, back in his own home world it depended where one was located as to whether it was safe or not. And even travelling on the road one had to be wary of random monsters though most could be avoided if one was careful enough.

"There is no need to thank me." the knight replied in a kind tone. "One simply needs to be more careful, although the random tossing about of food is a curious custom they must have come up with since being here before."
dulcet_cellist: (Hesitant Uncertainty)

[personal profile] dulcet_cellist 2021-08-07 09:51 pm (UTC)(link)
"You've been here before?"

Food fights weren't something he'd ever participated in, but they happened. Personally, he agreed. It was childish and a waste of food. He would never throw food at anyone or want to be hit by food. What a mess. But he could see the appeal when people needed an outlet for frustrations. He just thought there were better ways of dealing with frustrations that didn't involve being covered in pie.
unswervingcompanion: (Just where are you going? (r))

[personal profile] unswervingcompanion 2021-08-08 09:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Hendrik nodded. "I have. But from the looks of things, it appears that the school as summoned to it new students." And that made the knight give the other a pointed look. "Granted I did not know everyone here before, but there are telltale signs that someone is new to its antics."

But he led them away from the food shenanigans and scowled backwards for a moment where they were still undoubtedly going on. And then he looked back. "Here you should be safe from their idea of entertainment."
dulcet_cellist: (Excuse Me?)

[personal profile] dulcet_cellist 2021-08-10 03:39 am (UTC)(link)
"Thank you."

It was a relief to be out of that room. At the moment he wasn't capable of handling any more enthusiastic chaos. It was confusing to him that anyone was actually enjoying themselves when they'd just discovered they'd been kidnapped and forced to learn magic.

"I don't understand. You left. You can leave this place? And now you're back?"
unswervingcompanion: (Son of Zwaardsrust)

[personal profile] unswervingcompanion 2021-08-11 10:07 pm (UTC)(link)
He nodded to the thank you though no thanks was required. It was just who he was and what he did.

But Hendrik turned to his companion as he asked his questions. "I am afraid I cannot say how I came to be here in the first place, or how I have returned. But I am here and I do not know how I left so I am going to do whatever I must during my renewed tenure." There was a slight nod. "And so I will endeavour to do the things that I am familiar with until such time as I return home."