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 The lights are off, the desks and chairs have been replaced by beanbags and there's a table in the corner with a chocolate fountain, marshmallows and strawberries.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

[apolly]

"I... think it does." He vaguely remembers a family back in California that could channel the spirits of the dead, but that's as far as Apollo's knowledge really goes with ghosts.

Well, they're dead. They didn't have much else to lose, except in Clara's case, who wanted to stay for her family.

"Then why are you haunting here? Is it for your granddaughter, specifically?"

[warmheartedly]

She smiles at him, not minding the question but the more she thinks about it, the more her expression becomes puzzled and curious.

"Well... I think so." Not the most confident answer from the woman and that says something. Clara had never really gone and thought deeply about what she's still here to this day. That wasn't a lie either. She seemed to have no clue why she's still here. "It must have to do something with her."

Before, I thought it was to make sure my husband was okay. Then he passed away some time back and I--"

She makes a gesture with her hands, going, 'I didn't for some reason. The afterlife is a picky thing.' If that can be fluently translated into gestures, that is.

[apolly]

... Apollo finally realizes that it was probably an insensitive question. No one really knows what makes a ghost stay or leave, but having you loved ones pass away right in front of you is just. God, why'd he ask that?

"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, I'm sorry," Apollo quickly answers. It seemed like Clara didn't mind it too much, but Apollo still felt like a jerk.

"I guess, I mean... do you hang anywhere in the city, or just here?" Let's take a lighter turn on the subject.

[warmheartedly]

When recognising the change of conversation, and the little stumble at the start of his question, Clara willingly follows along. As shown with her chipper answer, "I do wander around! In fact, this is the furthest I've ever been from my spot.

"I'm from Harrow," she explains while she gestures to where they are, "and it took me quite a while to learn how to travel further from my haunting grounds so to speak. There was also learning how to not get spooked by accident so I don't poof back to the shop!"

She sounds quite proud of that, genuinely glowing, so it must have taken a lot of effort on her part to get this far. "I visit the school the most, I think, when I go out and about. Everyone here is just so charming and friendly. Like you, Mr. Apollo."

[apolly]

"... Apollo's fine." Yeah.

Though he has seriously got to ask, coming from all of that:

"How do you travel? Do you just teleport?"

......... "Do you take the bus?"

[warmheartedly]

"If you say so, Apollo." She smiled at him and couldn't help but laugh a bit at the question. "Why yes! I can teleport! Just need to think of the place or address and here I am. Wish I had that power when I was alive."

Looking around, she cupped her hand and fake whispers, "I did try to take the bus once. When I just learned to travel outside. It didn't work though. Phased right out of it when it moved so it was a bit of a shock! I guess you could say I didn't... fare well with it."

[apolly]

Didn't fare... well.

Apollo stops the snort but it comes out like a weird guttural sound from a pig so he covers his mouth, his face going instantly red. He seriously hoped none of his bosses were around to hear that one.

"Phase out? Does that happen when someone tries to sit where you're sitting?" I have a ton of ghost questions, okay. This is for science.

[warmheartedly]

She heard it though. She heard it and it makes her light up like Christmas tree.

Someone found her puns funny. Someone found them funny! Oh what a delight. She doesn't mind answering any ghost questions he has now thanks to that.

"Well it takes effort in the first place to sit since I need to think of sitting and what it was like before to do that." The things people take for granted at time. Like a sense of touch and weight. "When people sit on me, I still stay there long as I'm not surprised or not caught off guard and had time to brace myself for it. So to speak."

At this point she looks a little embarrassed, mostly because, "In fact the person is often the first to go. Something about suddenly getting very chilly can be unappealing to some."

[apolly]

"Oh, right, you guys drop temperatures and battery power and stuff, right?"

Apollo's extent of ghost knowledge goes as far as what he's read in the books along with American ghost shows. Most of those seemed so fake, though.

"There's a clan back in LA where living people can channel ghosts in their body. It morphs their appearance too, if I remember right."

[warmheartedly]

She nods in response, looking happy that he knows that bit because most people in the supernatural community, new to it at least, found it hard to believe that ghosts did that.

Because it just sounds... really silly when you put into paper or try to explain it, when one thinks about it. Why would a ghost take time to bang walls and shut doors if they can phase through things? Why waste their energies on electronics? Spirit logic.

Not that Clara knows must of the logic herself, entitiness aside. Most of her knowledge came from things she already knew and things she learned in the past ten years. The information about the clan is something she's never heard of, evident by her wide eyes and surprise face.

"Really? They can do that? And they're not..." How to put it politely? "Harmed by it? It's their speciality?"