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 The lights are off, the desks and chairs have been replaced by beanbags and there's a table in the corner with a chocolate fountain, marshmallows and strawberries.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

Assembly Hall

[detectiveofthewest]

"Hi!" Rather than showing up under the umbrella of an illusion, Heiji actually was a young man in a neatly-pressed suit. For now, anyway. He'd never actually met Balem, but he had heard of him by association. From all appearances, however, Balem was keeping things low-key... so Heiji would avoid any references to secret identities.

"Some speech. By the way, I don't think we've met -- I'm Heiji."

[entitles]

"Some speech, indeed," he said, not returning any sort of verbal greeting nor offering a name of his own. However, he did reach a hand out - a handshake was the least he could do.

Balem could tell that he was fae even though he was dressed rather plainly, and so he cared about his opinion more than most here, "I'm curious to know what you thought of it."

[detectiveofthewest]

"Human politics," said Heiji, shaking Balem's hand. "That Chancellor Redbright was pretty careful to emphasize inclusiveness. A 'safe zone... where every supernatural and non-supernatural person is welcome'. But that's a little disingenuous, don't ya think? She's tied up with Daybreak, and they seal off the Other Realm when territories come under their control. Not very neighborly, is it?

"She's also tryin' to spin it like we're all part of some big coalition... but they tell me the Night Council here's never had a ghost or fae representative. I heard they been nosing Circle Midnight outta town, too. So it's inclusive -- as long as you're the right kind and play by their rules. But what d'you expect? Humans are always like that. The politicians, anyway."

[entitles]

"I agree," he said, never having much fondness for the politics of witches and vampires and other such beings, especially when they insisted on involving everyone else, "And I think this was very deliberately constructed as a move by the Redbright Institute rather than Circle Daybreak in the hopes of appearing less hostile to our kind. But I am no fool; territory under her control could be thrown to Daybreak at any time, I'd think, or the Night Council, both of whom want more authority over us than I desire to give them."

[detectiveofthewest]

"I'm sure they'd love it if they could shut the fae out, period," Heiji said, putting up a palm as if to say if wishes were horses... "Nah, I take that back. Whatever they say in public, I'm sure there'll always be a few witches at the top summoning us up in the background. Provided it's for the 'right' reasons."

After all, the privileged, well-intentioned or not, always ended up putting themselves as above the rules. It was only the powerless that had to abide by them. Heiji didn't even particularly dislike humans on general principle; it was just that you couldn't argue with history. "So let's assume Redbright wins the board. Who's going to feel that leash first?"

By which he meant that if Sylvia Redbright ever did get control of London, he assumed she'd begin restricting or driving out those members of her own coalition that were most problematic. Consolidating power, in other words. The werewolves already had no representation in the Night Council. Then again, vampire killing sprees were pretty bad PR...

[entitles]

"The werewolves, I imagine. Especially with the support Islington gets from the Night Council. I'd be surprised if they weren't driven out of London entirely, and unlike us they've got nowhere else to go," he said, "Then, perhaps, the witches that don't agree to Redbright's rules, and then us."

He wasn't particularly fond of either witches or werewolves, but he was even less fond of Redbright's witches and vampires and the rest of the Night Council crew, so there was a lesser of two evils to be chosen here.

"If the issue escalates and we need support," he says, being careful to use the word 'support' instead of 'allies', "We know where to start looking."

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji made a slight face despite himself. He wasn't too fond of vampires as a general rule. "Strange bedfellows, if ya ask me. But I guess they're willing to overlook a little bloodletting or two as long as they get what they want. I assume they gotta get Islington to police their own since they don't have the muscle to do it themselves?"

Suddenly, he brightened. "Oh, that's right. Since we're sort of going to be neighbors, I have somethin' for you. It's a bit of a tradition where I come from."

[entitles]

"I imagine they will police their own willingly if it means protection from hunters," he said, "Although I wonder what the hunters will think if one of their own falls to that clan. Hm."

But Balem's mood, too, lightens a bit at the thought of a gift. As regal and detached as he acted, he did love getting new things. "How thoughtful. I'd love to see it."

[detectiveofthewest]

"I'll be right back with it, then!" Might as well retrieve it now, since there wasn't much else going on at the party. After a brief nip out to Faery, Heiji returned with a slender-necked stringed instrument. Its neck was fretless and made of polished wood; the three strings stretched across its body were similarly unmarked.

He held it out to Balem, along with a smooth, fan-shaped plectrum. "It's a shamisen. You pluck the strings with the bachi, of course."

[entitles]

He takes it in hand and inspects it. It's been a long time since anyone had given him an instrument. He was friends with a bard once, back in Greece many years ago, who gave him his lute before he passed away. Back in those days people used to write songs about the more prominent fae that graced humanity with their presence. Most of them were lost to time, but Balem remembered.

"Thank you," he said sincerely, "I'll keep it somewhere safe. What drew you to this city in particular, then? I've moved around quite a bit myself, but never from so far away."

[detectiveofthewest]

"I'm glad you like it," Heiji said, just as sincere. Giving presents and being a good host were two things he took quite seriously -- and the former was a little difficult when you'd never met the recipient.

"Well, it was either London or somewhere in America. And I've always had a weakness for the west." By this Heiji didn't mean the western world, but the direction in general; America was east in relation to Japan. "What about you? Not a London native, I'm assuming?"

[entitles]

"When I was born there were no cities. Clusters of humans here and there, but nothing impressive," he said, and he spent a long time thinking humans weren't capable of much because of it, "I lived in Egypt a long, long time ago, and Greece after that. Then Italy, and France, and now I'm here."

He doesn't mention the few centuries he spent as a recluse in between Greece and Italy.

[detectiveofthewest]

"Really? I'd love to hear about it!" Maybe coming to this party was worth it after all; Heiji's tone was suddenly alive with interest.

"Especially Egypt. Were you around during Hatshepsut's reign? Speakin' of the Neolithic period, I would've loved to be able to see Çatalhöyük while it was still inhabited!"

[entitles]

"I was. I was a friend of many of Egypt's most prominent individuals, in exchange for a bit of magic every now and then," he said, missing the days when he could freely interact with humans and openly exchange his power for other favors without all this secrecy.

"I still have many of the artifacts given to me over the years in my palace, if you would be interested in seeing them."

Truth be told, they were mostly paintings and carvings and sculptures of him, because people from every age quickly caught on to his vanity and weakness to flattery.

[detectiveofthewest]

"I would, definitely!" Gosh, just thinking about all the historical artifacts Balem must have at his place was exciting; Heiji's face practically shone with anticipation.

Of course, it might be a bit disappointing once he found out they were pretty much all of Balem, but even so, different cultures had their own artistic traditions, which were fascinating to examine in and of themselves. "These days, I guess a lot of the public treats realism like its the be-all and end-all of art. But I think you really have to examine art in its context. It's too bad people look at an Egyptian painting, say, and all they can say is one figure is too big in relation to the others."

I mean, hello, had they ever heard of hierarchical scale?

[entitles]

"Art changes rather quickly, I imagine that trend won't last more than a century or so," he said, as if a century was 'rather quick' by anyone's standards but his own, "The stars are upset tonight, and this speech hasn't improved my mood any, so I think I'll retire for the night, but you are welcome to visit me any time you see my doors open. I live in the observatory, you can't miss it."

Mostly because it was very large and gold and had a massive dome in the center.

[detectiveofthewest]

Heiji gave Balem a quick bow -- not enough to draw attention by the others in attendance, of course. "I think I'll take you up on that offer, thank you!"