undergroundmods: (Default)
The Underground Mods ([personal profile] undergroundmods) wrote in [community profile] undergrounds2015-05-23 12:00 am

Game Opening: May Ball

LET'S GET THIS PARTY STARTED.

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 The lights are off, the desks and chairs have been replaced by beanbags and there's a table in the corner with a chocolate fountain, marshmallows and strawberries.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.
alethiological: (Guy Fawkes (d. 1606))

[personal profile] alethiological 2015-05-31 10:14 am (UTC)(link)
The light is watched with the same listless gaze, instinctively feeling her soundwaves - anger, anguish, a desperation to be understood - but it's just white noise. Heard and easily ignored with the ease of years of practice.

People aren't tables.

But that doesn't change the ones he left behind because of this assignment. A thousand different faces with a thousand different stories all brought together by the same truth: you should consider yourselves lucky to have this chance. Give thanks that your needless existence can be put to use. And you believed - all of you did - because it gives you purpose. Because it's a reason to be something more than the monsters the rest of society hides you as. Because it was so much better than that other option. It's more efficient to just replace someone old and broken with something else.

Who's to say furniture can't pretend to be a person?

"I shouldn't, but I can." And I will. But she doesn't get it. Only they do, only we do, and that's fine. That's not Hers to understand. The fact that she is completely incapable of doing so is another of a myriad of smaller blessings to be grateful for. But at the same time, there's some weird twist to his that can't be effectively put to words.

"And you don't have the right to tell me otherwise."
megidoomed: (♈ the tasks that are mine)

[personal profile] megidoomed 2015-05-31 11:24 am (UTC)(link)
See, this is a beautiful example of how nice it'd be to have a empathy radar embedded in your head. Just the innate ability to sift through unspoken meaning without effort.

Because all that's coming across to Aradia as is a whole lot of 'I don't care'. And fine. If he wants to suffer through being a stubborn jackass, he can deal with his own consequences.

What happens next is a blur to the ghost - the barman shouts in surprise when the flickering lightbulb shatters under duress, the result of a sudden spike in raw anger at his pre-programmed reply hastily being vented towards something that wouldn't cause permanent damage. Any semblance of regret over the power fail doesn't register, mostly because she doesn't linger long enough to see the result, vanishing between heartbeats back to her haunt where she doesn't have to deal with stupid goddamn lousy backwards weirdos with gold eyes who make no sense.

She'll regret it later, count out the damages and try to fix what she can, but later isn't now. All this started with tables. What did tables ever do to him in a past life.