diatuooc | Test Drive #1

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Airship

DG takes a seat in the viewing area up front. She figures that's the best was to know what's ahead of her - at least literally - and since it's likely everyone else will want to take in the view at some point her fellow Sundered will probably show up too.

She puts her feet up on the back of the seat in front of her and sighs. This is...ridiculous, she's already been randomly transported someplace where she finds out she has magical powers and a hidden destiny. At least in the O.Z. she'd been a princess, now she's back to being a student.

A snack tray floats by and she snags an orange. "Hey," she calls after it. "Do you guys have beer? Cuz I could really go for one."

Worth a shot, but likely futile. Just like attempting to access her native magic. Still, DG peels the orange but before digging in she sets the fruit in the palm of her left hand and closes her eyes. Like Toto and Az had taught she concentrates, tries to let the light flow through her to levitate the orange, make it spin. The weird, alien magic inside her shifts and stirs but she ignores it to try and find her magic.

The more she concentrates the tighter her eyes close and the more her hand wobbles. She probably looks ridiculous.

Thaumaturgy 101

A wand? What is she, a fairy godmother? Where she's from (now that she's not from Kansas anymore) magic just sort of...happens. You focus on a thing and poof! Thing done! Whether you wanna unlock a door or travel a couple hundred miles or shrink your enemies to fit in the palm of your hand, it can be done if you want it bad enough.

So DG only half-heartedly follows along with the symbol, probably waggling the wand a little too much. "Bippity bobbity boo, I guess."

Bala-inolta

DG has the ball. She doesn't want the ball at this point but she has it and she has to get rid of it. Think think think, think faster... oh, yes! That Fantastics lesson a couple days ago, she remembers the tune and starts to whistle.

As she finishes the second bar her exact location becomes a little less clear to observers. She moves to the left, then backwards, then singles out a teammate and throws the ball.

"Here, catch!" she cries. Sadly who is supposed to catch the ball and where it's coming from might not be as obvious as she hopes.

Then throwing the ball to someone specializing in Fantastics was probably the best idea. Tenn falters on the note he was holding, reflex breaking his concentration when he raises his arms to catch. (Didn't hit his face! There's the important thing!) His eyes narrow, casting a sharp glance in her general direction that clearly says, thanks, I hate it.

Now the field has turned to him. Oh, good, he has an audience. Starting a hum in the back of his throat, Tenn rolls the ball teasingly from one hand to another (there may be some fanservice in the form of a wink thrown at the opposing team), before opening his mouth to a low note that obscures the air around him. And then he’s sending a rolling fog to fluster them while he darts forward to return the hot potato to her.

"I don't want it, either. Here."

Test Drive #1

DG | Tin Man

Bala-inolta