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 The lights are off, the desks and chairs have been replaced by beanbags and there's a table in the corner with a chocolate fountain, marshmallows and strawberries.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

[eyeforaneye]

"I don't care about the fountain." Immediate, and perhaps somewhat defensive. He allows for a pause to make that seem slightly less suspect.

"I've never dealt with anything like this before, that's all. Are you a witch?"

[megidoomed]

She notes the immediate snap of the answer, filing it away as an idle curiosity. People-prodding is an art to a ghost.

"Used to be, but not anymore." There's no point to lying about her former magic, as it can no longer be used against her, but it's fun to be vague. It's a good way to test what conclusions he'll come to. "Things changed."

[eyeforaneye]

'Changed'. Well there's a word that sparks a number of ideas.

"For you or for your abilities?"

[megidoomed]

"A little of both." It's definitely fun to watch - er, listen to - him narrowing down the details. Enough to take her mind off her predicament, easing the stress on the poor fountain. "They're not that exclusive in the end."

[eyeforaneye]

Well, that's illuminating in a very vague and intentionally unhelpful way. Still...

"Are you a ghost, then?"

[megidoomed]

That didn't take long, though she supposes it's the next logical step already. It's not like vampires spend time chilling in fountains.

"Pretty much. It's not as exciting as you'd expect."

[eyeforaneye]

More like it's a thought fresh in his mind from an earlier conversation or else not one he would've happened on very quickly. What's really strange -- for him, anyway -- is his notice of her change in tone, as if her game had ended too early.

"... I'm sorry." The apology is equally rare, though it isn't clear what it's for. "I'm guessing that's not a subject you like to linger on."

[megidoomed]

She's not particularly upset; it's sad that the topic moved on so quickly, but vivid emotions are hard for her to hold onto these days and it fades from her voice a moment later. It's not like it's something she chose to become.

"I'm okay with it, really." She's still not the type to ignore an apology though, regardless of it's rarity. "There are worse things I could be. At least I still exist."

Cautiously, she tests whether she's still fettered to the fountain - it's not as restrictive now and she could probably leave, but it's practically a part of the conversation now. So the chocolate continues to bubble softly from a ghostly presence.

[eyeforaneye]

"If that's your priority. I can't say I know what lies beyond this world or how worthwhile it is to visit it." It's hard for him not to inquire further -- the circumstances of that death, what it's like as a ghost, how she stayed -- but even he has some measure of tact sometimes.

"So you were a witch before? I guess those powers probably ran in your family, huh."

[megidoomed]

For a moment, she's tempted to make something up. She does have a little insight into extra-mortal affairs, after all, but thinking about her Door is a one-way ticket to a bad idea. As is anything relating to her death - it's probably for the best that her voice turns monotonous in reply, as she tries to drift her thoughts back to more pleasant paths.

"I had reasons to stay on the mortal side of things. That's all I'll say." A beat of silence, as she takes the offered topic change gratefully. "We had our differences, but it did run in my family. Maternally, as far as I could tell, which looked pretty normal to me - I guess it isn't for you?"

[eyeforaneye]

"... I don't know." He gives the most honest answer that he can after a short pause, clearing wishing he could be a little clearer. "Whether there were witches in my family that influenced my abilities, whether they were the result of other supernatural interference... I couldn't say. Perhaps if I stick around in places like this I'll get my answers.

Did they encourage you to hone your skills?"

[megidoomed]

"Schools are a good place to learn, its true. They're noticeable though."

Ah, a newbie. Poor kid - even if Aradia sympathizes with not knowing the community for most of her life, she at least knows her own origins.

It does encourage her to push through her encroaching apathy for some sincere advice, as any random tidbit might help and helping is one of the few things left to her these days. "Mother wasn't really one to encourage anything. My grandmother loved to watch me learn, in contrast, but she wasn't too fond of where it was taking me."

There's a wince, even if it's not visible. "I suppose she had a point in hindsight."

[eyeforaneye]

Putting that together isn't difficult and he again feels that sharp pang of curiosity, trying to reel it back in.

"So you had a mentor in it." The comment on schools is left unresponded to simply because he still isn't sure how he feels about this place as a whole, or perhaps more accurately how he feels about its influence and possible agenda.

"Are you still able to use any of those powers now?"

[megidoomed]

Cryptic dead girl is cryptic, and she's silent for a long moment as she tries to puzzle out proper phrasing. Most of her magical education was painfully informal, and a lot of the time she just ended up winging it - which really doesn't make for a useful explanation.

"Most of my mentoring came late, and it didn't carry over in a literal sense. Magic's more of a living thing." In multiple senses of the phrase, really, which earns a dry chuckle. "But my type sort of... gave me a leg up for ghostly stuff. But I still had to re-learn a lot from scratch, if that makes any sense."

The kid's awfully curious about magic. She doesn't mind answering questions, but it's interesting.

almost typed 'ass', nice save for the obvious American

[eyeforaneye]

"Sounds like a pain in the arse." Bluntly worded as ever. His hands slip into his pockets as he eyes that fountain, seeming less and less self-conscious over the fact that he's essentially talking to a variant fondue.

"I guess I should ask what you can do, but even more than that... How old are you? Your choice of wording seems relatively modern."

see australia uses british u's everywhere but we say ass. /shrugs

[megidoomed]

He's definitely new to this, if he's asking those sort of questions, and she's almost thankful to have a fetter for this. It gives her something to ground with, makes it easier to think without casually clipping through the environment.

"It's not as painful as it sounds." Taking things a bit literally, there, but it's softened by the amusement in her voice - she'd be smiling, were she not still stuck in the fountain. Smiling chocolate fondue would probably be terrifying. "As for my age, do you mean when I was alive or in total? Because either way, I could probably make a joke about asking a lady her age. I don't mind though."

ours is a strange world

[eyeforaneye]

"You have a feminine voice, but I had no way of knowing for certain that you were a woman." In all fairness. "Either way, I don't believe in coddling people or treating them differently based on something minor like that." The pinnacle of chivalry.

"I suppose I mean both. This interests me."

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[megidoomed]

... Well, that was a decent point. Props to the strange boy for having a sense of humour, as it wins a well-meaning giggle from Aradia, rippling across her fetter and making the chocolate bubble.

"I suppose you've got a point with that! Not that it matters, I don't have a body to show my age with anyway - I've been sixteen for the past... two years, now?" The phrasing is odd, but it feels more honest then any alternative could be. Technically her clock's stopped ticking, after all.

"Time can be pretty hard to keep track of these days. I'm not a very old ghost, but I know what I'm doing."

[eyeforaneye]

"Even if you haven't had a purely physical form you've still been a part of this world and gained more experience. You're able to have an influence here... You should introduce yourself as eighteen. Those years are yours.

And if it really is eighteen, then I suppose we have something in common."

[megidoomed]

"But I'm not eighteen. Not really."

There's no emotion there, only a sense of baffled curiosity. Though she does appreciate that he replied with his own age - that was to be her next question, to balance things out. "I died, and the dead tend to stagnate. It wouldn't feel right. But it'd be nice to have something in common."

[eyeforaneye]

"You said that you stayed in this world for a reason, so you have attachment or something you want to accomplish, right? If you think in a hundred years that you'll be the same as you are now, then you're invalidating any progress in your goals.

So why dismiss two years?"

[megidoomed]

"I..."

Her voice falters and fails, There'd be easier ways to describe why she words it that way - how she's not meant to be here, how her goal isn't one she can work towards so easily - but that involves thinking about her death and that gets dangerous.

The lights flicker overhead, barely noticeable.

"I'm not dismissing it. It counts, just not in the same way - you can't borrow age, and the dead can't change."

[eyeforaneye]

Even so he glances upward, finding it too coincidental to be unconnected.

"... I don't know a lot about you or your condition, or about how a ghost feels lingering around here. But I don't believe what you're saying." An opinion he's unapologetic over while still trying to remain aware that she's bound to have stronger feelings about it than he is.

"You can still form new opinions and get close to people. You think you can't change without having a body?"

[megidoomed]

"It doesn't matter if you don't believe me."

She catches on the phrase, wanting to repeat it until it starts being true - the dead can't change - but circular logic doesn't get her anywhere. She's aware of the fallacy in a detached sort of way, but she's in too deep now and it's slowly drifting towards a topic she doesn't want to touch. Nobody said ghosts had to make sense.

"No matter how many years pass, I'll be me. That doesn't change. The dead don't work like the living do."

[eyeforaneye]

He can't even ascribe a single defined reason to why he wants to convince her of his viewpoint so badly, unwilling to think on it just as she's unwilling to analyze certain aspects of her own situation.

"... You'll have time to think about it on your own. If I'm right then it won't matter if you believe it or not; you'll just continue to adapt and exist in the way that you do. Maybe that's enough."