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 The lights are off, the desks and chairs have been replaced by beanbags and there's a table in the corner with a chocolate fountain, marshmallows and strawberries.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

[megidoomed]

"Sure I do. Haunt apartments, break lightbulbs, continue to exist. That's what I'm doing next Tuesday."

[eyeforaneye]

"Haunt multiple apartments or just the one you usually hang around in?"

[megidoomed]

"Multiple. There are some people willing to tolerate me."

... though, sometimes she wonders. Whoops.

[eyeforaneye]

"You have a list of compatriots? Somehow you seemed more antisocial than that."

[megidoomed]

"I'm social when I want to be. I just usually can't be bothered."

[eyeforaneye]

Color him incredulous.

"Name three friends that you have."

[megidoomed]

Now this presents a dilemma. List her old living friends, and risk him looking them up out of sheer stubborn spite. Don't mention them, and expose that she's a sad lonely ghost with no friends.

"You're awfully curious about my life. Being dead doesn't make me less deserving of privacy."

Or we could. Deflect by being annoying. That works too.

[eyeforaneye]

You realize exactly what that sounds like, right. You must.

"You don't have any friends."

[megidoomed]

Realizing and accepting are two different things.

"I had friends." Wait, shit. "Have friends. They're just not in London."

[eyeforaneye]

"... I don't have any either. Don't worry about that. That kind of companionship is overrated nowadays." Actual friendless losers club.

[megidoomed]

The sudden 180 from the agitated questioning is almost startling, even if she switches tracks without commenting.

"It's hard to keep in contact anyway." They need t-shirts or something. Though, that'd end up turning into a beacon for any extroverts in the area. "So I'm okay with it. It leaves more time to practice things."

[eyeforaneye]

He's still of the opinion that she needs an outside motivating force in her... "life"... but.

"So you haven't met or spoken to any other ghosts?"

[megidoomed]

"Ghosts can't automatically see each-other, and most tend to keep to themselves." God, Sasuke. But at least she amends her statement after a moment's thought. "But I bump into Clara sometimes. She usually haunts her coffee shop so it's not as hard to find her."

[eyeforaneye]

Well excuse him for not knowing or being dead.

"I don't know anyone by that name. Perhaps it's someone you should talk to more."

[megidoomed]

Not being dead is no excuse. How dare you.

"Clara's the most patient person I know. It's hard for us to meet up, but when it happens it's fun." A pause, as she considers silently. "You'd like her. She's livelier then I am."

But then again, it's hard to not like Clara.

[eyeforaneye]

"I'm not someone that's necessarily interested in 'lively' or gregarious. I've been accused of already having one foot in the grave as it is."

He's severe enough for it and attached to the past, sure, but definitely alive. His emotions are underestimated far too frequently, particularly his anger.

[megidoomed]

"Having one foot in the grave isn't so bad. It's both feet you have to worry about."

There may be a bit of amusement there. She has a fondness for death puns, ok, is that such a crime. "In any case, she's spent more time in London's supernatural community then I have. So the chipperness is pretty justified."

[eyeforaneye]

Puns are one form of joke that he's actually capable of easily understanding, even if his response is generally a face+palm combo like every other red-blooded human's.

"Saying that makes it sound like ghosts can change again. Be careful with your wording."

[megidoomed]

Puns are an art form a and more people need to appreciate them. It's not like its a punishment or something.

"They can't, but that doesn't mean that experience is useless. Besides, she knows people and sees a lot of what's going on."

It comes out pretty flippant, but her intent is well-meant - if informations what he wants, Clara's a safe bet. Plus she might teach him to be less rude, somehow.

[eyeforaneye]

You should be locked up in a punitentiary.

"Perhaps you should consider relocating if you're missing out on so much information and experience."

[megidoomed]

But we've done nothing wrong. These jokes are perfectly punctual.

"I like where I am." Whether she's referring to her usual Haunt or her current situation is deliberately vague. "And experience only comes with time."

[eyeforaneye]

Don't be so pundantic.

"Experience comes from experience. You're not going to experience much if you stay in one place... Someone can live a hundred years and experience less than another person does in a week."

[megidoomed]

It's not like anyone's going to punch me for it.

"I don't always stay in one place." She needs to clarify that, doing her best to keep from sounding petulant. Rude. "Being choosy about what I experience doesn't mean I'm a shut-in."

Which just brings back to mind her current fetter, and the constant feeling of being cramped inside the fountain. Quick, topic change. "Do you get many experiences, though? I'd imagine being alive helps."

[eyeforaneye]

I don't know, I have a punchant for violence.

Yeah, he's staring pretty hard at that fountain. Really, Aradia. Really. "Sure, I guess by most people's standards I do. I have my own flat, I have my work, and I have my..." Social life? No. "Personal motivations. Desires to improve. Perhaps I don't travel very much but that requires more funds than I can casually expend."

[megidoomed]

You might have to do some punnance for those violent tendencies.

Hey man, topic changes are totally fair play. He's been prodding her with questions all evening, so it's natural that she'd want to ask some back. "Travelling gets expensive. And most of it comes down to being stuck in a metal can for too many hours, watching countryside roll by. The experience grows old fast."

Despite the negative choice of words, her reply's coloured with genuine interest. A lot of the things Sasuke listed are things she never got to have. Of course, saying that aloud would just prompt another wave of 'you should do things with your un-life', so team Fountain Ghost will be sticking to shrugging for now. "But that sounds... pretty nice. Very in-control of your own life, that sort of thing."