WEEK 3

[bathymetric]

Well, the tail end of Week 2 could have gone better. That's the first thing to note.

The second thing is... hang on, should it be Week 3 yet? You've all gone to sleep (or... not, in the case of anyone who doesn't), but when you wake up (and you do all wake up), the calendar and clock on your device informs you that it's Sunday. In-character, all characters explicitly have absolutely no memory of Saturday.

Your sense of time isn't the only thing that's changed - a new branch of the facility has opened and become active overnight, giving you new resources and places to investigate, should you so choose. There's also a new channel on the television, though whether it's an improvement over the last one is questionable.

Otherwise, though, things have mostly settled into normalcy again, or at close to normal as you can find in this place. How long that peace will last, though... that's becoming increasingly uncertain, moving forward.



SUNDAY | MONDAY | TUESDAY | WEDNESDAY | THURSDAY

[ ooc: Welcome to Week 3! Turn in last week's AC over here, and regains remain over this way! And for the sake of consistency, Angel's office hours remain over yonder! ]

Comments

[nothingcanstop]

[ That's a lot of information there. ]

I'm sorry, win? Win what?

[emberserker]

Win GRANBELM. It's something only mages from my world know of. Something like a tournament, and contestants go until their stone is shattered. There are five left now this time around, myself included.

[nothingcanstop]

Oh. So that's what all that meant. [ A mage tournament... ] What do you get when you win? A...magic increase?

[emberserker]

Something like that. The winner becomes the Princeps Mage, and all of the magic sealed away is theirs to command. You could undo Magiaconatus and restore magic to the world. You could do whatever you wanted.

[nothingcanstop]

I was following until the... What's Magiacon...that thing?

[emberserker]

Magiaconatus. A seal a group of sages created a thousand years ago to lock magic away from the world. Very little gets through, so even for a dedicated mage, what you can do day-to-day is highly limited. But GRANBELM takes the competitors into an illusory side dimension around Magiaconatus itself, where we can channel all kinds of power, so long as we know how.

[nothingcanstop]

[ HUH. Della takes a moment to digest all that. ]

Alright... Why'd they seal it all away to begin with? Too dangerous or something? That's...irresponsible. Plenty of people can do just as much good with magic as bad.

[emberserker]

That's what the records say. After wars broke out using magic, they wanted to stem the destruction. But I intend to win and become the one and only Princeps Mage. For a long time, it was the only thing I ever wanted to do.

[nothingcanstop]

For all that just to be behind a tournament... Hasn't someone won by now?

[emberserker]

No previous GRANBELM ever produced a Princeps Mage.

[And Anna seems fixated on the shattered jewel in her hand at that.]

Mother always said only someone beloved by Magiaconatus could win. That it was impossible otherwise, even going against the will of the gods to try, and that's why there's never been a winner. What does she know? She lost the last one.

[nothingcanstop]

[ She's got...multiple questions, but it seems Anna's a little preoccupied. ]

...Mages have been trying to do this for a long time, haven't they? Have you been training for this all your life?

[emberserker]

Absolutely. Being a mage was the only thing I wanted. GRANBELM happens every generation, and this one's been going on for a little over a year.

[nothingcanstop]

[ If it's something she wanted to do... Hm. ]

Then... I wish you all the luck in the world, when you can get back.

[emberserker]

What's that look on your face?

[nothingcanstop]

What look? [ Has she got a look? ] I just like encouraging people to follow their dreams.

[emberserker]

...

[Anna closes her fist around the broken earring. She's silent for a while, then turns to walk out of the room.]

As you were. Have fun with the prize machine.

[nothingcanstop]

[ What just happened. ]