Start of Year 2022

[Anthr4xus]

Luna Void woke with a stretch and a yawn, squinting at the rising sun showing through one of the large windows of her room in the high tower. Webs of frost encrusted the outside of the window, and the entirety of the campus that sprawled and rose below her glimmered in the dawn light with a white dusting of frost or light snow.  She smiled as she noted the winking lights of the sprites and will o' wisps flitting in the shadows of the Living Maze.  Soon they would be playing and tricking arriving students. Catching the first wisp of the year was a tradition that she always competed heavily in when she was a student here.  

 

As she dressed in the heavy ceremonial robes that she always wore on a first day, she checked the variety of magical indicators, clocks and monitors that festooned the small desk in the corner by the armoire.   The school was currently deep in the Canadian wilderness, not that that would have much impact on the arrivals of the students.  Much of the faculty and staff had already arrived over the last week, but she still hadn't heard anything from Isobel or Soibahn and she had what she hoped would be the final interview for a new Numerology professor.  She placed the wide-brimmed and ridiculously tall witch's hat on her head and spared a moment to look in the mirror.  The silver and gold embroidered stars and moons slowly danced across her robes and hat, highlighting constellation configurations and other notable alignments with a subtle flashing glint of soft white light.  She smiled at the effect, picked up her wand from the desk and with a gesture vanished from the room.

 

---

The grand and impossible castle was buzzing and alive with activity, even this early in the day for today was Arrival Day! The day when the students, new and old, came to the campus.  Classes wouldn't start until Monday, but the weekend would be full of old friends meeting up for the first time in a month, excited to show new things gained over the break or to talk about family vacations and drama.  There would be new students trying to learn the flow and patterns of the castle and the school.  Inevitably there would be interesting magical happenings occurring all over the place. 

 

As the earliest of students arrived on the grounds, the kitchens have already been hard at work preparing breakfasts and snacks.  Various human and non-human staff were working to make sure the dormitory rooms were ready for their occupants, and various brownies, domovoi, and killmouilis moved through the halls chasing out loose animator effects, smudges, and other housekeeping tasks.  The branches of the Living Maze flexed and twisted as if in anticipation.  A small heard of Catoblepas raised their heads from the partially frozen reeds at the edge of the lake, eyeing the approaching Magical Creatures Professor.  A few other staff members were fanning out from behind him to help recapture the escapees while a flock of Frostwings drifted through the air overhead, a soft burst of snowflakes erupting with each slow wing beat.  

 

Numerous flyers decorated the walls and small tables of pamphlets and refreshments had been setup near all the common entry points.  These notices included information about the grand Welcoming Dinner planned for Sunday evening, as well as notices about last minute changes in course and club availability.  The pamphlets included jaunty animated illustrations of generic students and professors performing spells, playing and laughing.  Prominent on all of the notices was an alert that a flock of Chickcharney have taken up roost near the Defensive Magic classrooms and care should be taken from disturbing them for fear of the not-well-understood luck manipulation abilities.

Edited July 12, 2022 by Anthr4xus (see edit history)

[matt_s]

The brakes on the train squealed and sparked as the carriages ground to an uneasy halt. Magic and technology had a tenuous truce at the best of time, but Ingwe figured that the informal armistice held that simple friction was largely off limits from interference. Now the engines were another deal. On the journey there, he could have sworn the sounds veered from the rhythmic beating of high displacement steam pistons to the high pitch roar of turbines and even to the stomping of cloven hoofs on the railbed. A return to strangeness high and low was a hallmark of Gwimmermort.

 

The ride itself was generally pleasant. The lunchtime meal was either steak or fish. Ingwe naturally had lasagna. Nervous chat between students had sparked here and there. The inconveniences of timezones and (much procrastinated in his case) packing of belongings did not make for a talkative crowd. His reading assigned over reading was largely untouched. The only magical book he had studied in any detail since departing the school was Morrigan's Detailed Fundamentals of Alchemical Processes , a wellworn treatise on the theory and practice of alchemy.

 

Donning his "formal" robes, as comfortable as they were mildly insubordinate, Ingwe nodded in stiff greeting to Luna - referring to faculty by their first names was always a reliable yet fraught way of getting a sense of their vibe - and shared a firm handshake with ol' Cornelion. A brief exchange of platitudes - how was Cornelion's wife getting on, good to hear it, of course I stayed out of trouble, I think I finally got that potion from Morrigan's figured out - and he moved on.

 

Seeing a student he knew, he said Hey, how about a few rounds of the ol' cards up by the Defensive magic classrooms. Won't want to disturb the flock of course, but those abilities should make the game a bit more interesting.

The usual pamphlets were scoffed at as a matter of course but even the most uptight upperclassmen and a few faculty helped themselves to the snacks set out before them.

 

Oh, and after the meal, any of you lot want to head down and check out the Maze to see what its up to this year? I'm pretty sure we won't come back bloody, or at least not as much as that time last year.  

 

 

[KingGoblin]

Arthur Fichal

 

Having left his home behind, Artie walked with his cousins and siblings to the cave they always used to get to school.  It was dark, and ominous, and frankly nothing but a sheer cliff of rock to anyone non-magical, but to Artie it was downright homey.  Well, compared to his family's dilapidated castle, anyway.

 

They passed through the cavern, their baggage carried by imps and sprites, spirits and elementals, and other servants of the family, until they reached the surprisingly modern-looking subway platform and hired dead-eyed porters to carry their things.  At the proper time, Artie settled into his seat, and took the train on to school.

 

At Ingwe's questions, Artie laughed.  "Uh, sure, I'm up for a visit to the Maze.  Although probably not until after dinner, when its nice and dark."

Edited July 13, 2022 by KingGoblin (see edit history)

[Anthr4xus]

Dean Void returned Ingwe's nod as she marched through the train, the same kind of formally cordial greeting she gave to anyone and everyone that met her eye, but she projected the air of someone on a mission. If she noticed his informal address, she gave no sign. Between that driven posture and the imposing presence she had in her voluminous robes and overly tall hat even in the tight confines of the train a bubble of personal space was maintained around her.  In addition to this space given by the people on the train, there was a ripple of space around the peak of her hat, causing the ceiling to curve and shift to always be just an hair or two taller than the hat needed.  It was a subtle effect, but one that when noticed was nearly impossible to fully ignore.

 

She did pause for a moment to give Cornelion van Porfenhousen, one of the returning Alchemy faculty, a warm hello and ask if he had seen any other faculty on the train.  After a few minutes, she finally found the person she was looking for, a bronze skinned woman in a small private car towards the front of the train.  "Isobel Kahn!  There you are!  Did you forget basic correspondence spells?  I've sent you several..." Could be heard before the Dean of Gwimmermort closed the cabin door to properly address her faculty.

[matt_s]

Ingwe mostly kept to himself until dinner that first day. Even for a seasoned upperclassman, there was much to do. He got his half of the dorm room more or less in the proper state of disorder, placed a benign but very LOUD alarm charm on his shelf of texts and notes, checked with the registrar to be sure all his courses were set (he may fail them, but he would fail the courses he wanted to, confound it!), and paced the halls, getting a sense of what had and had not changed and offering casual but meaningless exchanges of greeting with many of the students he recognized. The new students wandering with a lost look on their faces he helped with a polite suggestion on where to head. Even the most cantankerous seniors would not let a first year go astray on their first day, it was unheard of.

 

And then he sat down at an empty stretch of table as the welcoming dinner began to get started. It was always interesting to see who join him, if anyone, given the amount of first years and transfer students along with the willingness of returning students to more freely associate at the start of term.

[KingGoblin]

Arthur Fichal

 

Artie also kept to himself after arriving, although in his case it mostly involved laying protective circles around his possessions, less talking to others and walking around.  He made himself known to the newbies, mostly as a matter of course, as one of them might be useful to network with at some point, but he didn't care to do much more than look impressive and show off his expensive tastes. 

 

Eventually, when it was dinner time, he went and sat down next to Ingwe.  At least there was a familiar face, and he needed to meet up with him at some point if they were going to explore the Maze.

[Azure Kestrel]

At the start of the day, Meera was in the back seat, her parents driving a green Subaru Forester and listening to music and playing on her phone, ignoring her parents rambling about building character and the importance of education, until it was time to drop her off at the bright white stucco building the school used for its mundane operations.  She found herself caught in a pair of tight hugs, mum's eyes a touch wet. She heard her dad's stern reminder to focus on her studies, and it was bouncing off her back as she practically danced up the stairs to join Mr. Grey, the administrator for mundanes for today, and the groundskeeper for the rest of the year.  Mr. Grey stood by, waving the Greens off with a calm smile, until it was absolutely clear they were gone down the windy way, then he was giving Meera a parcel of her school gear, and she nearly snatched her broom out of his hands. Then, it was out the back of the building, turn this way, then that, and suddenly, she had made it to the grounds - she was already late, after all - mum had insisted on a wild breakfast to make up for sending her away.

 

She emerged into the cacophony and excitement of the other students - and relief settled on her as Hector, her nightingale, flew down and landed on her shoulder.  "There you are!" she exclaimed.  

 

The first day was exceptionally busy - and her class, being underclassmen, still had orientation and reminders and exhortations to sign up for clubs and community service, and she emerged from the meetings with schoolbooks, orientation packets, and with more flyers for activities than she could possibly absorb.

 

At dinner, it was short work for Hector and her to find Artie and Ingwe, and she sat down with them with a light wave and smile. 

 

 

 

[KingGoblin]

Artie shrugged, after a moment.  He smiled back at Meera, glad she hadn't been eaten by that book, but otherwise not too aware of what she had been up to the last several years.  As a first-born, he knew nothing of her family, and didn't really consider her to be all that important, but she seemed nice enough.

 

"Hey.  How was your first day back?"

[Anthr4xus]

The large dining hall was abuzz with activity and conversations.  Minor magics were being cast here and there, but everyone seemed more interested in catching up with friends, eating, or just looking around and taking it all in than doing anything too flashy.  At the far end of the room a long table was set perpendicular to the student tables, and much of the faculty were seated there.  The center chair that was reserved for Dean Void was empty, but almost all of the other teachers were seated there.  Porfenshousen and Brandtweasel were talking to each other, and Isobel Khan was obviously listening to their conversation.  Sprig, Brandersnatch, Walsh and X have cleared off part of the table and are in the middle of a game of 4-way 3-D mage chess.  Walsh's king-side dragon was in position to block down much of the upper boards, but Sprig and X were building towards a St. George offense to break that control. Benenfort sat by himself trimming a small bonsai tree that moved and twisted in an unfelt wind.  In addition to Void, Pontiflex and Shelton were noticeable absences.

 

The walls of the dining hall were decorated with large animated banners showing notable scenes of student activities and classes from last trimester.  That time one of the Alchemy labs was completely filled with lavender scented foam for a nearly a day.  When the student choir put of their performance of Pippin. A heard of griffin flying over the peak of the castle, students perched on their backs.  A team of students on brooms flying in formation through an aerial obstacle course.  A student's hand sticking out of the top of a hedge.  A group of students gathered around a large amethyst colored dragon that was speaking while pointing to various parts of it's anatomy, Hegemon Pontiflex standing nearby. Dean Void speaking to a group of upperclassmen in a classroom.  Major Shelton demonstrating a charm defense to a group of underclassmen.  Scene after scene of a busy and apparently happy and harmonious school life.

Edited August 16, 2022 by Anthr4xus
Correcting Shelton's rank and adding Benenfort. (see edit history)

[matt_s]

Glad to see you of you this fine evening. Even for someone who has been here a few years, and given how all this is going will be here for a few more - but I digress, I was saying there is an everlasting charm to this place that can make you smile even at the darkest times.

 

He pauses to scan the banners, smiling as he stopped on the foam flooded Alchemy labs. You know, they tried to pin that one on me, but my case was actually considerably helped by the fact that I was not responsible. Heck, if I had been , the foam would have been there a lot longer, and lavender isn't my thing either. But fair enough to them, when I did "volunteer" to help with the cleanup, I was intending to turn all those bubbles into marbles that bounced around the halls for a week while squeaking dirty lyrics.

 

A glance at the faculty table and absences were carefully noted. I suppose Luna, Hegemon, and Colonel Shelton are off having a conference of some sorts. It's strange though, missing the dinner. Perhaps a few quiet questions could clear this up. Maybe it's nothing - or maybe it's a portent of a torrent of otherworldly EVIL!

 

- at this comical rejoinder, Ingwe sat back and chuckled. After the meal, he kindled a pale magical light with a snap of his fingers, playfully tossed a compass in one hand, and headed towards the maze.

[KingGoblin]

Artie listened to Ingwe's bragging, without saying much in response.  Mostly, he just enjoyed the meal, and the feel of being back at school.  At least here, the people he interacted with would be mostly actually alive, unlike home.

 

"Oh, I don't know," he commented, at Ingwe suggesting the evil and conspiracy.  In Artie's experience, Evil wasn't really all that organized.  Or all that bad, really.  "Seems more likely that they all caught Spell-Pox, or something.  No need to jump to conclusions."

[Anthr4xus]

"I heard they are trying to corral the Catoblepas herd before some newbie gets turned to stone.  Depetrification takes forever, you know." A fellow upperclassman, Louis Pander, said as he dropped onto the bench next to Artie. Both Ingwe and Artie knew him, as he has been a classmate for five years.  "How was your break?  Do anything cool?"

[matt_s]

Nah, nothing too crazy my man. Just enjoying the vibes and the lack of academic rigor. Grew some herbs, enjoyed some herbs, ignored the summer reading, the usual. Ingwe says to Louis. Aye, we can't have a Catoblepas herd running amok turning some poor kid to stone.

Ingwe muses, not wanting to give up on the current frivolity that has taken his eye.

 I still think we could blunder around this fancy maze first, but we best be wary of those feral fauna the next few days. Maybe one of us could brew up a protective tonic before we go and try and sort that nonsense out. Fine, I'll do it I suppose. A bit of thyme, frogweed, crumpfumphel, the usual, some careful heat, and no harm will come to you.

[KingGoblin]

Artie shrugged.  "If you think it's best, but we want to go out tonight, so if it needs to brew we will probably just do without for now," he said, off-handedly.  "If there's anything interesting out there, it might be best to see if we can catch something while they're young."

[Anthr4xus]

As the students chattered and some looked liked they were getting ready to leave, a hush fell over the room in a great wave as Dean Void entered.  She swept up the center of the room between tables towards the teachers table.  While she looked as prim, crisp and clean as she always did Pontifex and Shelton, the Magical Life and Magical Defense teachers, were scuffed and dirty.  Their robes bore streaks of mud and grass stains, and Pontifex even had a black eye that was quickly fading away.  The teachers held the attention of the room as they approached the head table.  Squig froze the chess game in place and vanished the board as Pontifex and Shelton got settled.  

 

Dean Void came to stand in front of the table.  When she spoke, her voice seemed to come from several different places above the tables, sounding down in perfect sync so that everyone in the large room could hear her as easily as if she was standing next to them.  "Welcome students!" she said, spreading her arms to encompass the room.  "I and the rest of the faculty and staff are happy to see all of you coming back, and so excited for all of you who are here for your first time.  By now you have all gotten settled in your rooms and have hopefully been enjoying the food and catching up with schoolmates.  Just a few notes for everyone before we start classes tomorrow."

 

"Firstly, there has been anomalous high winds and turbulence reported at altitudes above 320 meters.  It is highly recommended that everyone stay below 300 meters when flying until further advised.  Secondly, anyone approaching the marsh south of the lake should take care to wear reflective goggles, breathing protection and observe all posted instructions.  The Catoblepas herd is rutting, so the area is hazardous in more ways than one.  Thirdly, the Living Maze, under the care of Professor Benenfort, has actually managed to cultivate a second and third level to the maze.  There is some concern on the stability of the floors on these elevated levels, so it is highly recommended that anyone exploring those levels keep their broom with them in case of a fall.  The 'treasure chest' in the maze has also been restocked with new surprises.  Finally, as a fun event there has been a particular treasure hidden somewhere in the castle.  Clues will be issued periodically until it is claimed.  The first person to claim the prize will be rewarded with a special award package!  So good luck to everyone this semester.  Any last minute class change requests can be filed with my office."