2020-05-11 Ascension Lodge The Musical - Dog Days Are Over
Ascension Lodge The Musical - Dog Days Are Over
Participants: Makana Sophia, Nash Smith
Storyteller: Makana
Location: A lecture hall in the Ascension Lodge Manor
Date and Time: May 11
Summary: An apprentice passes their Bonisagus gauntlet and bursts into song...
The past three hours have been intense. Totally Not Zendaya, aka Genevive of Bonisagus, has been getting grilled. It was the day of her gauntlet examination. She was already awakened, but she needed to finish the last little bit. Having chosen her Hermetic word, and after a discussion of her potential True Name with Makana, the young woman looks exhausted.
There's a wriggle of her fingers, as she's doing things by Hermetic Power Point. What does that mean? There's a glowing book in the middle of the lecture hall seems to be going over her exploits over the past four years, dealing with awakened magic, her burgeoning understanding of magia, and her work entitled Darwinian versus Lamarckian Evolution as models of Changes in Magick Over Time. It posited the question of whether it was the mage's will directly affecting the consensus or whether it was the consensus choosing which paradigms would eventually be accepted. The questioning was intense, and in the seminar style defense, her fellow apprentices waited quietly.
Makana sits in her typical headmistress' robes, befitting not only her station of deacon of the chantry, but dean of the magical university as well. Clucking her tongue on the inside of her cheek, she looks towards Nash next to her.
"Any questions for clarification, Doctor Nash? If not, if we can quickly deliberate..."
Nash is a little surprised that he's actually being asked a question here. He adjusts his tie, and looks over to Makana. "Well Deacon," Doctor Smith stalls, "I couldn't possibly comment. Your standards are so unlike any I would apply. I could only judge attitude and effort."
She'll take that as a no. A wry grin curls onto Makana's features as she ahhs and closes her notebook. "Finalize the draft of your thesis in a grimoire, and we can hold your graduation ceremony shortly there after." a beat. "Congratulations, Genevive, you've passed..."
There's clear elation on the young woman's features. The other apprentices clap in applause, cause it's clear that if someone can pass with such rigorous standards (Bonisagi are dreaded taskmasters when it comes to the academic initiation gauntlet), then surely, they all have hope.
That's when the sound of laughter can be heard booming in the hallways. It's not from any of the students, and something feels off. Something... tingly...
"~Happiness, hit her like a train on a track; Coming towards her, stuck still no turning back; She hid around corners and she hid under beds; She killed it with kisses and from it she fled; With every bubble she sank with a drink; And washed it away down the kitchen sink...~"
That would be the young apprentice. She's crouched over, as the sounds of jingling bells and the sound of a ukelele strumming can be heard in rhythm with the words of the song as she sings it. With each line, one apprentice continues to clap, and then the others around them join in.
"~The dog days are over! The dog days are done! The horses are coming so you better run!~"
The students gather together at the front of the lecture hallway, going into an intricately choreographed dance. It's one of pure joy as they clap in unison, in utter joy that someone passed. Their eyes sparkle from celebration as they break out into the climax of the chorus.
"~Run fast for your mother run fast for your father; Run for your children for your sisters and brothers; Leave all your love and your longing behind you; Can't carry it with you if you want to survive~"
Makana blinks for a few moments and immediately grabs Nash's arm. "They're being compelled." she whispers.
Nash goes into his briefcase, and pulls it out. Setting it on the table in front of him, he unlatches it, pulls out the remote. "Let me see if I can get a direction on where the source of this is coming from, then, Deacon," he says, flicking it open and very carefully fiddling with the controls. "or what it is."
To Nash's gaze, the resonance is everywhere. Only the practically preternatural willpower of his fellow Deacon and his own are most likely the reason why they're unaffected. Still, it's a beautiful thing, the resonance one matching that precisely of the young apprentice's joyous emotions at passing. It's a release of stress, and it's quite cathartic. The emotions created from the performance swirl about, before starting to zip zoom off out of the lecture hall, and towards the stairs, in the direction of the student dormitories.
Meanwhile the students continue their song and dance routine. They're a bit more energetic now, looking more like they're in a state of ecstacy, of rapture, something that only the whirling dervishes have written about as they twirl about, losing themselves to the music.
"~The dog days are over! The dog days are done! The horses are coming so you better run!~"
There's more twirling about, with various dramatic poses. IF there's something that /can/ be said, at least, it's decent production value, that akin to a small Broadway number, in the middle of the lecture hall.
"~Run fast for your mother run fast for your father; Run for your children for your sisters and brothers; Leave all your love and your longing behind you; Can't carry it with you if you want to survive~"
And with that, the song finishes, and the students collapse down on the ground. ZONK! They're unconscious.
That definitely catches Makana off guard. She rushes, checking for pulses on Totally Not Zendaya, before looking at Totally Not Tom Holland and the others. A sigh of relief can be heard escaping from her lips. "There's pulses at least."
Nash gets up from his seat as he's staring at the remote. Sturdy in his hands. Pointing, stepping, triangulating. "Second floor, that way," he shouts, pointing in the direction of the student dormitorities. "Deacon if you have any security, send it up there, now."
"That... we don't." she says with a bit of frown. Other than the faculty, there aren't really any custos around that would be able to do a thing. She hrmms for a few moments and starts heading towards the second floor, huffing and puffing, as she pulls out her wand from her side holster. IT's really a pocket, but she pulls out her sixteen inch narra wood wand, at the ready.
"Which way?" she asks, not yet wanting to risk casting her own spells for now.
The resonance and the emotion are starting to swirl in front of one of the bedrooms before wooshing inside.
Nash keeps the remote on. So as they go uptsairs, he'll spin himself around, looking for exactly the direction. And then when he finds the strongest signal, he'll stop, and point. "Right there, deacon. I can't say I came armed."
At the ready, Makana says and hrmms for a few moments. "Not going in first?" she asks with a soft chuckle and a shake of her head. Still, she grasps the door knob and pushes in.
The mass of swirling emotion and magick can be felt strongest in the room. It's definitely an apprentices room, and the source of the magick... a simple Sailor Moon comb.
When the pair arrive, a hearty laugh can be heard, the disembodied voice going.
"Mmm, that was delicious! Thank you! I'll be back for more later. I'm full now..."
And then things go back to normal
Nash shakes his head. "Is that someone's comb?" he mutters. He telescopes the antenna of his remote, and switches it off with a hearty clunk. "That was disturbing. Whatever that was, it was attracted here, and targeted here. And it's unlikely to have been a minion of One Wilshire, either. You need some security."
"The Technocrats would hardly use disembodied voices and Florence and the Machine, no?" Makana offers in reply with a soft chuckle. Hrmming for a few moments, she takes in a long and deep breath. "We're going to need to assign people to that, you're right." she says with a whine. "Great, now I have another thing to add to my quarterly report." she grumps
Nash nods. "If you need weapons, we can help with that. Not that you'd ever deign to use our weapons. But I have to offer," he chuckles coldly, turning around, and going back to the door. Holding it open, looking around. "You might also make a list of any recently expelled or failed students. Anyone disciplined. Anyone who might have a grudge against you or the student being examined."
