Game Opening: May Ball

[undergroundmods]

LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED.

"" (Watch on YouTube)

It had to be done.

Welcome all to the Redbright Institute's May Ball! This evening is a celebration of the Institute's achievements over the past year. Students aged 16 and above can attend on their own, while younger students must be accompanied by a parent or guardian. Meanwhile, friends and guests of the Institute are invited as a gesture of friendship and harmony between the various factions.

Rules and etiquette
• This is a black tie event. Formal attire is required.
• No weapons. This is a school, there are children present. Any weapons or objects that could be used as weapons will be confiscated.
• No drugs or alcohol. Obviously. Don't try to sneak any in.
• No violence.

There is security within the school and present at the event. (In fact, if your character is a member of the Redbright Institute, you could have them acting as security if you want.) They will respond to and put a stop to any trouble.

Places to go
The main action takes place in the large Assembly Hall. This is where the Chancellor Sylvia Redbright will give her address. It's also where you can party later on. The disco is family-friendly – not exactly a rave, but the kids will love it.

Drinks and snacks are available in the dining hall. The drinks are non-alcoholic. Vampires, no need to worry about your cravings: blood cocktails are provided! They're given in good faith on the assumption that you won't be snacking on anyone else tonight.

Just off the dining hall, one of the classrooms has been converted into a chill-out area. The lights are off, the desks and chairs have been replaced by beanbags and there's a table in the corner with a chocolate fountain, marshmallows and strawberries. A video of young witches taking part in various night-time rituals (they mostly seem to involve chanting and bonfires) plays silently on the screen.

One of the lecture theatres has been opened up to showcase students' work from the past year. On the screen you can watch a slideshow of notable events and achievements. Strangely enough there aren't many people in this room.

Outside, there is a giant chessboard on the lawn. The pieces are made of plastic and can easily be moved around. Why, you ask? Why not, is the answer.

Finally, a large marquee has been set up in the quad. This is the adults-only area, with wine and cocktails served at the bar, nibbles available at a few high tables dotted around and a sophisticated atmosphere. No children under 18 allowed. (Note that the legal drinking age is 18.)

Timeline of events
20:00 – Doors open.
20:57 – Sunset.
21:15 – Sylvia Redbright makes her address in the Assembly Hall.
22:00 – Disco in the Assembly Hall. The DJ has atrocious taste.
01:00 – Disco stops. The event officially ends.

Comments

[emotioneater]

"Well, most people tend to take sucking blood to survive the wrong way and hightail it for the hills. Can't blame 'em, really." Cooper had been one of those 'drain a person dry and leave the corpse behind without any qualms' type not so very long ago. These days, he was trying to behave himself.

[eyeforaneye]

"You say the 'wrong way' as if a reputation granted after several decades isn't a reputation earned. Still, seeing as how I'm new to this sort of thing, I don't have any grudge built up against you or your kind. Not one that isn't spawned from from bad media, anyway."

That blood would probably taste better than this pre-sweetened coffee, anyway. This is torture. "Should be clear by that that I'm human, I suppose."

[emotioneater]

"Well, a good crash course if all you've had to base experiences off is books and movies is that yes, we do suck blood to survive, no, we don't always kill who feed off of, yes, most vampires are arrogant pricks, and no, I don't feckin' sparkle." Damn young adult vampire romances had simultaneously made it easier to feed off the young, dumb, impressionable youth and also made it harder to be taken seriously.

"Yeah, I kind of guessed that. You don't have the look of someone supernatural hangin' around ya." Not like Cooper could tell. Half the time he was completely surprised when someone told him what they were.

[eyeforaneye]

"I wasn't about to accuse you of sparkling. Is that really such a popular myth that you have to deal with now? Pathetic." Yeah, you have my sympathies on that one, sir. What a hot load.

"I'd heard more about garlic, or invisible reflections, or wooden stakes, or sleeping in coffins..." He pauses to think of more. "Burning in sunlight, turning into a bat."

[emotioneater]

"Garlic and turning into animals are pure bullshit. So is the reflections thing." He holds up his glass until its reflecting his image back at him to prove the point. "The coffins thing used t'be more true back in the day when hidin' from enemies was a priority, but currently I sleep in a bed like most normal folks do."

"As for everything else, just use your brain. Most creatures don't stay alive if you remove their heart or head." He won't go into the specifics of a vampire's weaknesses. He figures if Sasuke wants to know that badly, he can find a hunter who will tell him.

[eyeforaneye]

His current alliances should make finding a hunter much easier than it would be normally, and in fact he's already been talking to Clint. Fantastic progress.

"Sure, most creatures don't. But I'd assume you'd appreciate the benefit of a doubt I was willing to give you in saying that you're unlike 'most creatures'. Most people don't survive severe stab wounds either."

[emotioneater]

Cooper raises an eyebrow, not sure what to make of the kid. "Why so interested in a vampire's weaknesses? Planning t'go kill one, are we?" Most other people might ask the question with some level of facetiousness, but Cooper asks the question in all seriousness. He's all too aware of how his kind has earned a reputation as soulless monsters. He also knows the chances of someone Sasuke's age going up against an experienced vamp and coming out on top are slim to none.

[eyeforaneye]

"Didn't I say you're the first that I've met? I'm not the kind of guy that does things just out of principle alone and none of you have ever wronged me. Disregarding the 'why', I still wouldn't know how to tackle the 'how' even with your information.

I'm not a murderer." Yet. That is a huge 'yet'.

[emotioneater]

"Well, that makes one of us." He mutters that darkly, more to himself than to Sasuke. "I just had t'make sure. Vampires have got a lot of enemies and I've got a few more besides just being my own charming self. Even if you were some wet-behind-the-ears hunter, I'd say you're about ten years too young to be hunting bloodsuckers." Cooper makes no attempt to hide the condescending tone that comes with that last sentence. He's survived a lot to get to be as old as he is. Hunters don't scare him much anymore, instead being more of a minor annoyance that had to be deal with the same way one had to remember to pay taxes or mow the lawn.

[eyeforaneye]

"If you go around approaching people with that sort of dismissive tone it might just breed even more hunters. Isn't that something that a lot of people would take as a challenge?" Not that he's one of them.

... alright, he's one of them, but he wouldn't kill over it. "How old are you, then?"

[emotioneater]

"Many have tried. Many have ended up in the ground. If they're dumb enough to keep trying to push me, I'll push 'em back even harder." Tough-sounding words, but Cooper wasn't just all bark and no bite. He'd gotten where he was by playing the game of life as clever as he could. So far, he'd been able to stay one step ahead of those who wanted him dead and he planned to keep it that way.

The teenage vampire cocks his head and considers giving his real age, but that's far too easy. It's far easier to decide to be difficult. "Old as my tongue and slightly older than my teeth."

[eyeforaneye]

"Aggressive. It makes you seem young, though maybe that's your intention." He can give him that much credit, even if he's just about as stubborn as the vampire he's talking to.

"What are you doing here, then? You don't make it sound as if it's your goal to foster peaceful relations with the hunters and show them you're more than they think you are."

[emotioneater]

"Of course not." He snorts inelegantly. "Anybody who hunts for a living has already made up their mind about who and what I am." Of course, he's doing the exact same thing to the hunters in question.

He stares down into his glass of blood before quaffing the rest in one gulp. "The reason I'm here is because I have certain obligations t'meet being in Islington. One of them is attending functions like this. To see what the other factions are up to, gain some allies, see what old enemies are up to. That sort of thing."

[eyeforaneye]

"In other words you're here as a spy sent to gain dirt on the various powers vying for the top position and claim over territories. You worded it a bit more politically but there's no need; I'm not a diplomat either and I've already said I've got no grudge." Amazingly.

"Besides, if it's just information that you're after then we're here on common purpose."

[emotioneater]

"Spy is such a strong word. It makes me think of one of those people sneaking around in those tight little catsuits sabotaging things 'n gathering corporate espionage and such." While he was here to gather information, Cooper didn't pretend to be anything other than what he already was.

[eyeforaneye]

"Now who's the one drawing conclusions based on widespread entertainment?

No, that wouldn't really suit you, not when you've been this forthright about who and what you are. It'd be better if the rest of the people here were that way."

[emotioneater]

"Glad that someone feels that way. Most of the time my honesty tends to be gettin' me into trouble." People either liked that he tells it like it is or they wanted to sock him in the jaw. "Still, what would these politics be without half-truths and out 'n out lies to make things interesting for all the factions?"

[eyeforaneye]

"I'd pass on the interest. I hate lies in all of the various forms they take." Which definitely speaks for why he's not too terribly popular. Unnecessary compliments count as deception, after all.

"Don't your kind rely on charm and guile to a certain extent, however?"

[emotioneater]

"I don't know about all vampires, but I will admit to it. It's easy t'make people underestimate you when you look young 'n they treat you as such." He looks pleased with himself at the admission. It was a strategy that had served him well over the course of his long life. People had consistently treated him like he wasn't a threat and only discovered the truth when it was too late.

[eyeforaneye]

"... You sound proud of that." Far too much so for his own tastes, but perhaps that's judging too quickly. His specialty.

"You still hunt on your own, then? Surely there are peaceful alternatives that don't require you to need to be underestimated in order to get a meal."

[emotioneater]

"Why shouldn't I be?" Cooper counters. "It's kept me alive this long. I'd prefer to be a crafty old bastard who's still alive then to play by everyone else's rules and be dead."

There's a look in his eyes, something old and monstrous peeking out then. "Once you get used to doing something, it's hard to ever break the habit. Even if that's feeding off the unwilling."

[eyeforaneye]

Again his eyes go to that glass of blood, held oh-so-carefully, and back to Cooper.

"I see. Sounds like you're just set in your ways, then... More so than most humans would choose to be. I think your way of life would probably be too difficult for them, or me, to fully understand. We're too changing."

[emotioneater]

He feels like he's being judged, despite Sasuke's earlier comments about never meeting a vampire before. Oh well. He can judge all he likes. Cooper's not changing for anyone but himself.

"You're right on the money. It's hard to be of the world when you're not really a part of it. Everything around you changes, and instead, you're like a rock. Immobile and stuck forever the way you are."

[eyeforaneye]

"... It sounds lonesome." Somehow it's all he can think to say, in the midst of their dissenting viewpoints and disagreements. Is it pity, commiseration, or some mix of the two?

As usual the answer's almost always in the middle way. "Do you not have other longterm vampire companions?"

[emotioneater]

Cooper nods when Sasuke mentions the loneliness. Moreso for Cooper than other vamps. He's never turned another person, too unwilling to subject them to the kind of long, torturous life he's experienced. "A few, scattered here and there over the globe. But most vampires are arrogant pricks. I prefer to spend time with people I can actually stand."