Test Drive #1

[magicademymods]

Test Drive #1



The Airship There

By carriage or coach, spellwagon or ship, perhaps even on the wings of magic, the Sundered heed the call to gather at the Tenzin High Dock of Vulbaria. On this, the appointed day, a great passenger airship sits in the dock, the seals of the six Houses fluttering from flagpoles along her length and her wooden planks atremble as if it is eager to be off. At last, the gangplank descends, and the Hand of Diatu opens her doors to the Sundered so they can take their first step on the path towards protection and salvation.

Inside, you may choose from long comfortable couches, broad circular tables surrounded by straight-backed, cushioned chairs, or viewing seats at the glass front of the ship. Sundered who need special accommodations are quickly provided for, ensuring everyone travels in comfort. Trays drift through the air periodically, offering snacks and drinks to the passengers.

This may be the first chance you've had to truly relax since being swept to this strange world. Certainly it is the first chance you've had to meet your fellow Sundered. As the airship lifts gracefully off from the High Dock, your journey to Diatu begins. Excited? Nervous? Simply angry? Or perhaps searching among the crowd here for a familiar face or some sign of hope?

Rain, Rain...

Welcome to Diatu Magicademy. It's raining.

Seriously raining. One of those downpours that feels like a curtain has dropped on you, that soaks to the bone within a second of stepping into it. Obviously, this won't do, and a civic-minded cluster of Purifeul students has taken it upon themselves to solve this problem. No sooner do you step through the gates then you practically run into a giant and complex runic diagram being drawn out with long staffs by several students, all of them speaking seeming nonsense about derivatives, limits, and equations. Magic! In action right before your eyes!

And yet, just as their mathemagics wind towards the center of the diagram and they all make their final stroke -- one student slashes his line off on a weird tangent, speaking an equation that sounds nothing at all like what his fellows utter. The spell completes... weirdly, as the students look in horror at each other. The temperature abruptly drops seventy degrees, and a cold wind begins to blow.

Welcome to Diatu Magicademy. Please get out of the blizzard before you freeze.

Thaumaturgy 101

After some fifteen minutes of grumbling from Professor Loshakle, followed by half an hour of theory and basics, the grouchy old man finally gets to drawing a magical symbol on the board. "This is straight out of Fundamental Principles of Wizarding," he says, writing Sense Magic next to the symbol. "As is everything you'll learn here. I'll emphasize yet again, you MUST know the name of the spell and the proper gestures. You can't simply wave your wand in any old pattern and say any old words. That isn't how it works," he says, glaring around the class as if daring someone to question him.

But he gives no one the opportunity, instead producing a wand and making the gesture to trace the symbol he'd drawn in midair. "Sense Magic," he intones, and the air and his wand both shimmer.

"Now. You all try." Just like that. What the Professor doesn't mention is that this spell can produce some very interesting results if the symbol is off, or the timing...

Bala-inlota Practice

Bala-inlota is the main interaction the Magicademies have with each other -- the sport of wizards! Two teams take the field, with the goal of heaving a ball through their opponent's hoop. The rules primarily revolve around not inflicting lethal injury, because bala-inlota is a free-for-all at best, where each team relies on both physical and magical might to win the day.

You kind of wish someone had told you this BEFORE you got hauled onto the field so the coach could see if you've got what it takes.

Now half a dozen players are charging down the field at your ragtag group of semi-willing recruits, while another half-dozen are preparing spells that you've been absolutely assured aren't as nasty as the ones deployed in actual play. On your side: the ball, your wits, your physical ability, and maybe three classes's worth of magical education.

On the upside, magic is pretty good at healing.

Comments

the airship there

[youngjustice]

[ Ken is still in amazement at the airship, the experience being a first for the young boy. The actual magic being used to carry trays is only a plus and adds to the experience. It is like going to the theme park for the first time, really.

Ken continues to observe his surroundings and only pauses when he sees an odd looking girl who seems to be having...a time. It is not a good one, either, from the looks of the obvious messiness in her hair from her clash with one of the trays. She looks sad so Ken approaches, a smile on his face.]

Excuse me. You...have something in your hair.

[revidolize]

[Hearing the voice, she turns her head the other way to face it, her face looking horribly drained, pale, blue, veiny with bags under her eyes and a gaping scar across her forehead— in short, a horror story nightmare. Normally, her cheerful nature would offset her looks at least a bit, but that isn't anywhere to be seen right now. She can see that the voice belongs to a small child, so perhaps she should try a little to not frighten him too much...

She at least sits upright and dusts a few of the crumbs out of her hair.]

It's fine. It's just crumbs.

[youngjustice]

[She certainly looks...very cool. Like one of the monsters in a comic book that he remembers reading! But that would be rude to say out loud, wouldn't it. So, he'll keep his opinions on her appearance to himself.]

Oh, alright...

[He falls silent for a second before he speaks once again.]

Are you alright? You don't seem too excited by this turn of events.

[revidolize]

[She continues to hide her face somewhat, since she's already aware that it's reflecting her zombie self— though for some reason, this boy doesn't seem scared of that fact at all. A part of her is still concerned about keeping up appearances, at least in front of an impressionable youth, but it's very small and very stifled.]

Are you saying that you're excited by this? Did you hate your home that much?

[youngjustice]

[Ken seems to think about it for a second. Maybe this is some form of beneficial escapism from recent events in his life. That would probably really explain it.]

I wouldn't say I'm excited. More accepting than anything. Of course, I'm worried about my friends back home.

[He frowns. Ah, he hopes they aren't too upset by this.]

But being sad about it won't help. It's nice to look on the bright side once in a while. Instead of a fantasy world, we could have ended up in a death match or some sort of horror-like town. That would be a lot worse, don't you think?

[revidolize]

[A death match or horror-like town, he says...! At that, she slams her palms upon the table and quickly snaps her head towards him, her hair whipping just as angrily behind her in the motion.]

Did you not look at my face!? I'm a zombie! I'm already dead! I'm already horror!

[She can't help the outburst, but she does stop herself at the end, settling back down into her chair with a sigh.]

But I was even fine with that... I was ready to accept that... But I'm here now.

[youngjustice]

[Ken doesn't mean to offend her. At least, he thinks he offended her? The way she yells seems to imply that he did. But he thinks he understands how she feels. Sort of.]

Zombie or not, the situation could be a lot worse than it is now.

[He sighs. Minako was an expert at cheering him up all the time. He wish he had her skills now.]

I'm sorry. I'm not really good at this.

[revidolize]

[It could be worse, and surely, it will be. She knows this as a universal truth by now. She can't taste enough despair without another calamity happening in its wake. Still, this complete stranger is trying so hard to cheer her up, and it's not... completely without effects. She appreciates the effort, somewhere deep inside, but it's better spent on someone of value.]

If there's a magic to cure me, maybe... But I would probably mess it up and bring everyone into this fate of mine. That's just the way things go.

[youngjustice]

[Well, there is some optimism there. Even if it is for a brief moment. This girl must have come from a hard life. Though, he does not know how hard the life of a zombie might be...]

I'm sure that's not true. This place has amazing magic which means there must be equally amazing magic users. I'm sure they could find some way to cure you, Miss.

[revidolize]

[She mentioned the cure first, but it isn't until he repeats it back to her that she realizes... maybe he thinks she's talking about being a zombie. Hilariously, that's not the case, and her bad luck curse is so bad, it almost seems like curing zombification would be easier.]

Then, I'll try asking them. But until I see it myself, I just can't bring myself to get my hopes up.

[youngjustice]

I'm sure it will work out nonetheless. And if you can't find a cure, I'm sure they'll be some sort of alternative.

[Ken places a hand on his chin.]

Maybe there is a spell that can change your diet of human flesh to maybe...any other kind of meat? Or sushi. Sushi tastes good.

[revidolize]

Eh— What? I— I don't eat human flesh!! I eat things normally like any other person would!

[She's actually flustered by the accusation, even though that is the traditional Hollywood portrayal of zombies...]

This whole time, did you think I was going to eat you!? And you still stayed here with me!? Are you okay!?

[youngjustice]

O-Oh. You don't?

[Well, that is interesting. A zombie that doesn't eat human flesh...wow. Have the lore of zombies been factually wrong this entire time? Zombie-related media is bound to crumble to bits with this insightful information.]

I'm okay, it's just-- you haven't gone and attacked anybody else. And you seem cognitive enough to feel emotions that don't relate to wanting to eat flesh so I just assumed you were alright to talk to. You're like a normal girl, really!

[revidolize]

[Like a normal girl... She knows how true that isn't. But when he puts it that way... It's a nice sentiment, anyway. She shrinks back into herself a bit, a contrast to her prior outburst. His persistence reminds her of... her friends.]

Why are you going so far to try to convince me?

[youngjustice]

Well, it was just simply my opinion based on my own observations. Though, it’s not that far from the truth it seems.

[Ken smiles. She does seem like a normal girl — nothing zombie like about her except her appearance. He silently wonders if zombies may have magical powers but quickly hangs that thought up. Instead, he decides to introduce himself as it would be extremely impolite to not do so.]

My name is Ken Amada, by the way. It’s nice to meet you.

[revidolize]

[It's the same. The very same situation she had just been whisked away from. This relentlessly pessimistic attitude versus the encouragement of someone who wants to believe despite her lack of cooperation. What would they say if they saw her like this again? Would they finally give up on her? Or...

Would they keep trying, no matter what. She takes a deep breath.]

Sakura... Minamoto.

[youngjustice]

[Sakura Minamoto. It is nice to have a name to the face.]

Minamoto-san, then.

[He looks around at the other floating trays of food.]

Have you tried any of the snacks here that haven't ended up in your hair?

[revidolize]

[Oh, right. The crumbs in her hair. It's been this long now, so she's just going to... leave them. Yes, they're fine right there.]

N-No, I haven't...

[And as if on command, nearly a dozen of them appear at their table's side, one in particular having the nerve to nudge at her shoulder, demanding to be tried.]

Eeeeh? A-All right, I'll try just one!

[youngjustice]

[Ken looks at the trays and randomly chooses a snack from the tray. It seems to be a small cookie though he couldn't exactly place what kind it is.]

I thought they would be something a lot more odd. Like they would be glowing green with magic. But they're normal which is an interesting surprise.

[Ken puts it in his mouth and smiles.]

It tastes good too! How is yours, Minamoto-san?

[revidolize]

Glowing green...?

[She envisions it, and it's terrifying. Even though these look harmless, that's a hard image to push past. But she doesn't have to own her own; Ken bravely takes a bite without hesitation and taste tests it. Nothing weird seems to be happening, so perhaps it is... just a cookie. She decides to try it after all, and:]

— It's good! It's really surprisingly good!

[youngjustice]

That's a relief.

[Now he doesn't have to feel bad about taking one more. Okay, well, maybe two more. ...Three more. Before Ken knows it, he's just gotten himself a whole napkin full. When Ken realizes it, he blushes in embarrassment but quickly plays it off by brushing the napkin in between the middle of the two of them.]

We can share and...not hold up the magical trays from serving other people.

[revidolize]

Ah, right...

[She shrinks back into herself a little. She's gone and let a little bit of her other self out, and now she's at odds with herself over how to react. She feels like her friends will be proud; this is for the best, but it's still... not easy.]

But you know, I really don't even need to eat, so there's no need to hold back on my account.

[youngjustice]

O-Oh, really? You don't?

[That's interesting to know. Ken awkwardly reaches forward before putting another cookie in his mouth, enjoying the flavor of it for a bit. He wonders if it's possible to buy more of them somewhere. Wait, does he even have some sort of allowance here?]

So, do you just choose to eat then? What do you like?

[revidolize]

Well, I am dead, after all...

[She has to remind him, though it seems to bother her less to say it this time around. As for what she likes, she has to think about it a bit.]

There was a promotion that we did for a chicken place nearby, and we got to sample it as a gift. It was really good! [Though, she only retains that memory and cannot quite recall the taste herself.] But like most girls, I really like any sweet things... And it's a plus if it's really cute-looking.

[youngjustice]

Sweet things that look cute, huh. That's good to know!

[Ken laughs lightly. He supposes that makes sense. He himself likes nuggets shaped like dragons.]

Though, promotion for a chicken place? Are you some sort of advertiser?