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 The lights are off, the desks and chairs have been replaced by beanbags and there's a table in the corner with a chocolate fountain, marshmallows and strawberries.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

A: disco might be dead soon

Anyone with ears could pick up on the DJ's atrocious taste, and the dead are no exception - and this ghost's trying to take matters into her own hands. Luckily nothing's broken yet, as Aradia's still stuck trying to examine the setup without manifesting, but it's starting to make the DJ uncomfortable. Ghosts tend to make that sort of impression.

A rescue might be appreciated, if leaving him to his fate sounds a bit sketchy.


B: chocolate pain

A casual observer would that the state of one's mortality would be hard to forget. That hypothetical casual observer would be proven wrong when Aradia accidentally falls into the chocolate fountain, forgetting for a moment that she doesn't have a body capable of enjoying chocolate anymore.

Which, equally as accidentally, gets her stuck in the fountain when her focus switches tracks. It's easy to untangle herself, theoretically, but it requires a state of mind she'd struggle to hold onto. And besides, being in the fountain is clearly more comfortable.

Having a shaky grasp on your state of being is bad, kids. Don't do ghosts.


C: wildcard

[ Or anything else, really! Aradia's going to be poking her nose wherever it'll go for the entire evening, so feel free to bump into her. ]

A

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji moseyed right on up to the DJ booth, all smiles as he reached out to shake the guy's hand. "Hey, buddy, nice work!"

The DJ looked at him with a sort of deer-in-headlights expression, because apparently this never happened. Compliments? Appreciation? Not for Mr. Terrible Disco DJ. In fact, he almost forgot about the ominous sense of foreboding he'd been feeling. "Well... thanks, man, I --"

"Say, I got a request," said Heiji, cutting him off completely. "I was wonderin' if you could play somethin' with a bit more... beat?"

[megidoomed]

Aradia looks up from her curious prodding at the DJ's setup when Heiji approaches, completely unaware of the deception. Mostly because she's used to being an unseen spectator in the lives of others. It tends to cultivate a feeling of exclusion after a while.

The DJ almost forgets about the foreboding as he stutters out an excuse - he's only got these tracks with him, and he doesn't want to disappoint Mrs Sylvia - but it's pointedly undermined when a speaker protests a ghostly hand fiddling with its insides. Oops.

[detectiveofthewest]

The DJ turned toward the sound, but Heiji put a hand on his shoulder and stopped him. Thankfully, the protest was a short one, because if there was going to be some kind of incident, Heiji at least didn't want to be responsible for a ghost with actual taste getting busted.

Although in order to prevent some kind of scene, Heiji might have to put the whammy on this guy -- he seemed a little twitchy.

"Oh, well. I don't want you to end up wonderin' what possessed you to do all that..." Hint. Hint hint.

[megidoomed]

The second hint doesn't slip by her as easily, though it takes a few beats for Aradia to pick a meaning. Did the weird stranger mean possess the DJ or the machine - the latter ends up being her choice, solely because possessing humans ends up being uncomfortable after a while.

The speaker goes quiet as she settles in, aside from the initial burst of static, and there's far less complaints about the interruption then she expected.

Well. Less complaints from anyone but the DJ - he's a little worried about his rig now, fidgeting under Heiji's gaze. Tries to wring up another excuse about how he needs to check for whatevers causing the feedback too.

[detectiveofthewest]

Okay, you know what. That was fine, because this dweeb had actually put his name on a nametag and pinned it to his shirt.

"Listen, Stephen. Stephen... Urkel?" What, really? Really? Jeez, dude.

The DJ's eyes sort of glazed over as he looked at Heiji, which was a good sign. "I think what you should do is take a little break. I'm sure this thing with your equipment will work out just fine if you just... let it play a few songs. Yeah?"

"Yeah... okay..." said Steve Urkel, sounding a not a little out of it. He sat down in his chair and sort of absently hovered his hands over the dials without actually touching anything.

[megidoomed]

Poor Stephen Urkel. He broke the first rule of working a supernatural venue: don't put your actual name anywhere that people can see it. It's cost him as he slips under, staring at his machines and not noticing when Aradia's disembodied head pokes out of a turntable to stare at Heiji.

"That looks like a useful trick. Does it work on anybody or just... him?"

B

[eyeforaneye]

His talents for spotting ghosts are definitely limited, narrowed down to a very faint ability to see certain forms of energy if he concentrates on doing so, but that's not even necessary right now to tell that someone or something is disturbing the chocolate fountain.

Uh.

Sasuke first chooses to look around himself, of course, to make sure that this isn't some magic user's idea of a stupid game. "What are you doing?" And upon seeing nothing he calls out instead; this is a solid plan.

[megidoomed]

The disturbance abruptly stills when Sasuke calls out, as Aradia silently panics over someone noticing her plight. It's a pointless hold-over from when she was alive, that raw flash of instinct to freeze and hope it goes away when embarrassment rears its head.

It occurs to her, a moment later, that she's still dead and therefor nobody has proof about anything.

"Nothing. I'm doing nothing." A beat of silence, and the chocolate... bubbles for a moment. "Felt like being a fountain for a while."

[eyeforaneye]

He almost expects to go unanswered, tensing up when the reply finally comes. Well. This is different.

"... Come out of there, then. If you have the ability to exist in anything, then it's almost shameful to pick a fountain." And a chocolate one, too. "Do you really want to limit yourself? People stick food in there." The almost chiding response belies his own shock, seeing a lot of things that he's unused to tonight but this one is probably the height of them all.

[megidoomed]

"It's not limiting." That. Came out a lot more petulant then she intended, in a monotone sort of way. "It's practice. And food is irrelevant, it's outside my reach."

Fountains don't have eyes, and that's surprisingly frustrating - she can't tell who she's talking to, only that they sound grumpy, and that really doesn't help her deal with the sudden flare-up of stubbornness.

At times like this, she almost prefers the apathetic moods. At least those are rational.

[eyeforaneye]

"If it's so irrelevant then why are you practicing impersonating a fountain that spits out another kind of food?" Perhaps this isn't a good way to start off his first ever known encounter with a ghost. Not that he's even certain that that's what this voice belongs to.

"Who are you?" Better.

[megidoomed]

She contemplates letting the argument lie, or simply not replying at all, and the fountain bubbles as she decides - but in the end, even a bad conversation is better then none at all.

"I'm Aradia. And I'm practicing it because it was an opportunity." Which is technically true, so it counts. "You care a lot about the fountain."

[ B and Aradia no ghosts are good just in moderation ]

[warmheartedly]

It takes her a second to recognise her over at the table. Clara wished she had been a second faster. "Aradia!"

By the time she gets there, she's too late and she's left fretting just outside the fountain while looking around said fountain. Almost as if she expected to find a switch or lever of some sort that will allow her to get the other spirit out from there. "Aradia? Hello? Are you okay?"

my cousin took 1 ghost once and died. don't do ghosts.

[megidoomed]

It takes a few moments for Aradia to re-orientate herself inside the fountain, blind and utterly confused. What was she doing...?

Oh. Right. Well, this is embarrassing.

Clara's worried reply filters in slowly, and she might be even more concerned by how long it takes for a reply - but one eventually comes, even if not from a visible source. "I'm okay. I think? I didn't mean to fall in. Sorry."

1 ghost are the most dangerous ghosts out there

[warmheartedly]

"Nooo-- Don't say sorry," she said without any hesitation, reassuring Aradia there's nothing to apologise for. She didn't do it on purpose or do it to scare or surprise people, Clara bets. Clara knows or hope she knows. "What matters is that you're okay in there."

"Are you alright in there, though? Is the chocolate too warm? " This was one way to get a ghost out from an application or a piece of furniture they accidentally posses: Remind them of sensations outside of the thing, to get a better grasp of who they are so they can leave it faster.

Even if they can't really feel it anymore, it still helps. It was how she got out of things she accidentally got caught up in in her 'younger' days. "Is the smell of cocoa powder too much? I know it's meant to be everyone is supposed to like but you can just tell by the dark brown of it that it'll taste too sweet or sugary."

alone they are far more deadly because in ghost swarms they spend more time being silly. /nodnod

[megidoomed]

Possessing a chocolate fountain is certainly a new experience; it feels odd, plastic and bubbles and the vague oddness gets worse as Clara reminds her of how things feel. Sort of like when you remember your tongue exists, and then it won't sit flat.

"I'm okay." But geez, now she misses having a tongue. "I usually liked the sugary ones, I think. They were a nice pick-me-up."

She's still disorientated and stretched thin into her fetter, so being wordy isn't a priority... but at least she's responding.

and being cute like these two ; ;

[warmheartedly]

Responding is good, responding is great. It makes the much older ghost relax as she continues looking around the fountain, wondering how this will work. "I used to be a more sour pop type of girl myself, back in the day."

Clara frets, of course, under her cheeriness and wonders if she should try and find a way to pull her out of there or not without causing trouble to Aradia or anyone else nearby. "Do you need help?"

Is there a way that she can help? That might be a better question.

they're too precious

[megidoomed]

She'd focus on the food topic, because that's a far more interesting choice then fussing over Aradia's screw ups, but it's pretty obvious that Clara's worrying over her predicament. And there's enough of her under the apathy to cringe at derailing the older ghost's good time.

So she tries to tug loose, the fountain barely moving under her efforts, but she's still wrapped too tight into it and her building frustration doesn't help. "I don't know if there's anything you can do. I wouldn't want you getting stuck too.

B

[llywelin]

Lion just wanted a few chocolate covered marshmallows and instead there seems to be a chocolate covered ghost. At least she's a friendly ghost but Lion still worries about her current state. Is it... really that comfortable?

"Aradia! You came. I'm so glad." Pleasantries come first, every rich kid knows that. "And you're... well, are you enjoying yourself?"

Maybe it's comfortable? Lion doesn't know.

Re: B

[megidoomed]

It'd be uncomfortable if she could still feel anything. As it is, everything's just coming up chocolate.

Fountains unfortunately lack eyes, so it takes her a little bit to place the voice - only hearing it a handful of times makes for poor recognition. What follows is the verbal equavilent of pretending she didn't trip on her own shoelaces. "Wouldn't miss it. It's fun to watch how the living react to things."

[llywelin]

"Like a tv show." It makes enough sense to Lion. Maybe the chocolate fountain is the best place to watch? It seems highly doubtful, though. Is there a polite way to bring it up?

"And is this a comfortable arrangement?"

[megidoomed]

... well that didn't last long.

"It's a little bit far from the main party." The monotone hides a bit of her sheepishness, but the awkward pauses really give it away. She didn't expect her bluff to get called that fast. "But I'm okay with it. Are you enjoying the party too?"

Redirecting works, right? Right.

[llywelin]

Well it would be rude to ignore a question, even if Lion is concerned about her. Wouldn't she rather be closer to the main party then? But she'll let Lion know surely.

"Oh! Yes, I am. I've been mostly making sure everyone else is having fun though. This is my school so I should make sure everyone is comfortable." Lion doesn't seem to mind but it is a big party so it's a little exhausting. "I wanted to take a tiny break."

[megidoomed]

Oh, Lion. You precious cinnamon roll.

"There hasn't been that many people in the side rooms." It doesn't take much for her to pick up on them wanting a moment to themselves. "Everyone's out networking and stealing eachother's snacks. Or ignoring the dj. But it's... nice of you to try and keep people happy."

Even if it comes out fairly skeptical, she does mean it. Genuine kindness is an important trait.