Rip 2: The Academy

[dramatispersonae]

You step through the rip Cecily had opened and feel a sensation not unlike being torn yourself; part of you is here and part of you is there and you're not sure that all of you will end up either place. But you push forward, lean into there, and suddenly...

Comments

THE CLASSROOM

[dramatispersonae]

You find yourselves in what appears to be an empty classroom, sitting at small writing desks - just a platform for writing and an inkwell with a small stool behind it, no desk tray or other such things. Up at the front is an equally-small teaching lectern. All around, however, are the walls—walls which are chalkboards, literally. From floor to ceiling, the sleek writing surfaces are covered in arcane chalk scrawl; small ledges sit at the base of each wall, holding chalk and chalkboard erasers. The ceiling itself is a chalkboard as well and likewise covered in writing, except for a small space in the center where a dim mage-light glows emptily. There are no doors or windows—no apparent way out. Apparently, once class was in session, the students were not permitted to leave; the professors must unseal their rooms when class is dismissed. But somehow, that never happened.

Re: THE CLASSROOM

[reincarnivorous]

[Crosses her arms tightly across her chest against the sensation of entering, taking in the the surrounding space before trying to tally up party members. Can she read anything?]

Re: THE CLASSROOM

[ahorseforgood]

[is NOT sitting at a desk, in fact, but standing at one I guess; DIFFICULT POSITIONING! stepping carefully back from the desk so as to not knock anything over, examining the light and walls with MageSight as she does.]

Re: THE CLASSROOM

[mirroredvalue]

[Wow, this seems like a really terrible design that would give everyone neck injuries.

...Let's try to read what's on the front chalkboard.]

Re: THE CLASSROOM

[fullmoonblooms]

...I hope there isn't a test.

Re: THE CLASSROOM

[adropintheocean]

[visibly relaxes as soon as he's shaken off the feeling of going through the rip; this is much more familiar to him than the first world was.

going to check the mage-light.]

Re: THE CLASSROOM

[appleofhiseye]

[getting up from her seat and stepping over towards the light, looking for a way to light it that may be immediately obvious. knobs or buttons??]

Re: THE CLASSROOM

[orange_sun]

...is it weird if this is nostalgic?

*wandering through the room in a slow prowl, looking for auras and trying to make sense of the glyphs*

Re: THE CLASSROOM

[badapfel]

Are all other worlds like this?

[moving to take a look at the teaching lectern]

[THE STAIRCASE]

[dramatispersonae]

[You are forced to take the staircase in single file because of how narrow and cramped it is; due to it being a downward spiral, only the person in the lead can see where they're going. Somehow, though, it seems that you're never quite too cramped to move and always have footing, even those of you with four feet to find footing for.

The staircase is also dark -- whatever lingering power may have kept the mage-light active in the classroom above is no longer in effect here, but the opening above gives just enough dim lighting to make out the shape of the stairwell.

About twenty feet downward is a small landing leading to a door with a key lock on the knob; a brass sign over the door on the landing proclaims it the Teachers' Wing. The stairway proceeds further by another twenty feet into rubble, so once you get that far, your options are limited to backtracking to the locked door or the classroom.]

Re: [THE STAIRCASE]

[ahorseforgood]

[what are the walls like? are they Worked at all?]

Re: [THE STAIRCASE]

[adropintheocean]

Who has the key from the lectern?

Re: [THE STAIRCASE]

[appleofhiseye]

[I HAVE A LIGHT, if it doesn't inexplicably not work it is being used to light the way through the dark parts]

Shall we take a look? Someone has the key, right?

Re: [THE STAIRCASE]

[orange_sun]

*keeping watch, scanning the area around them in smooth, quick movements; it's clear he's ready to respond to any threat*

Re: [THE STAIRCASE]

[reincarnivorous]

Schools are usually designed like traps?

[Star, you got this?]

Re: [THE STAIRCASE]

[fullmoonblooms]

[...taking a closer look at the rubble to see if anything of worth might be peeking out, though she's careful not to touch anything.]

[THE TEACHER'S WING]

[dramatispersonae]

[The door lets out into a winding stone hallway that has seen some terrible devastation. Once elegant and fine, parts of various walls have collapsed; other seem to have been burned or seared shut. There are several doorways to what must have once been room where the rock has actually melted across the doors from whatever happened in the hallway outside.

As you proceed down and check for accessible doors, you find only two rooms to be actually accessible, and a third, right at the end of the hall, where the door seems unharmed but is locked. There seems to be a place for a fingertip to be placed, as if some kind of magical handprint scanner.]

Re: [THE TEACHER'S WING]

[reincarnivorous]

[Okay, but what if I push the locked door really hard?]

Re: [THE TEACHER'S WING]

[adropintheocean]

[wandering down to the locked door, then doubling back to check in the second accessible door]

Re: [THE TEACHER'S WING]

[mirroredvalue]

[...Fingerprint scanner, huh...

...I could probably make a fake finger if I knew what it needed, but... Aren't fingers supposed to be unique or something?

But yeah, let's go with the first accessible door.]

Re: [THE TEACHER'S WING]

[dramatispersonae]

[Shadow is pacing back and forth in front of the fingerprint-locked door.]

[THE DEAN'S ROOM]

[dramatispersonae]

[The Dean's room is a large, clean room; it seems to have escaped a lot of the damage, possibly because the Dean was apparently not here at the time; there's no statue in here. Nor are there many personal belongings. Wherever the Dean was, he had packed up and moved most important items.

There are a pair of couches, facing each other, with a narrow table between; a large desk with a chair behind it. A door in one wall is sealed shut, shimmering with some kind of sealed spell, but a large, sliding bay window overlooks the front of the academy. You appear to be on the first floor, the gates visible a short distance down the lawn from the window. Hanging beside the window is a framed piece of paper; for those who can sense magic, there's something of magic to it.]

Re: [THE DEAN'S ROOM]

[ahorseforgood]

[going to look at the paper, moving carefully.]

[THE LAWN]

[dramatispersonae]

[You climb out of the window to a long overgrown and abandoned lawn; the grass has even covered what once was a path, marked only by the sight of stones between the grass. At the end of the long path is a wrought iron gate set into a stone wall.

On the other side of the wall, you can see a large field and, across it, a city and castle in the near distance. But that doesn't strike you as important at the moment. The wrought iron fence has a crest over top displaying an open book, displaying the phrase If students will learn, the teachers will teach.

You know without a doubt that this is the Heart of this dead world, and that by focusing on your keys you may be able to bring a spark of existence back to it -- not a flame, because the dead world is dead, but some sort of connection, some sort of recollection.]

Re: [THE LAWN]

[reincarnivorous]

Well I feel ready to learn. [Muttered to whoever is next to her as she fishes her key out from under her turtleneck.]

[HOPE DAWNS]

[dramatispersonae]

[A warm power grows in each of you, in your keys, your combined power as Heroes and the bonds you’ve forged together and apart. A link forms, reaches, and you feel it catch...

...but you also feel it attract the attention of the Darkness, a dreadful swelling wave, something cold and predatory....]

[BUT THE DARK COMES RISING]

[dramatispersonae]

[The castle gates swing open with a clang of ancient iron, and figures swarm forth, riding great wolves the size of horses. Their leader wears a black crown, and the shadows of his helm obscure his face; a cloak of night snaps and flutters silently behind him, and his snarling mount is a full head taller than the rest. His entourage bears lances at the ready, fanning out into a flying wedge.

But for those who touched the magic of the wards, or whoever's holding the Academy Pledge, there's a sense of attention, of expectancy, waiting for something...

Those that want to fight will need to prepare fast, and those that don't had better come up with a plan.]

[THE LIGHT TRIUMPHS]

[dramatispersonae]

[As the King falls, so too do his knights, their mounts withering to skeletons, their armor falling away to rust. The King's hand seems almost to reach out towards the heroes, perhaps in entreaty...but then it, too, falls to dust and bone and ancient metal. From his head, his crown rolls away, then shivers and splinters into shards.

Behind you, a ghostly cheer rises, and then the spirits of the Masters fade once more; silence rules the battlefield once more. You can feel that the dead Heart of this world has been connected. The rip reopens, hovering over the battlefield, and your keys call you home. Is there anything you'd like to do before you go?]

Re: [THE LIGHT TRIUMPHS]

[mirroredvalue]

[...Hell. Yes. Sure I may have just taken out some elite mook, but you know what? I did a freaking Meteor Drop. It's one of those things I always wanted to do one day, but you can't really do that in real life normally.]

Then, where should we plant the seeds this time? Think one should go in the school, maybe?