Essays and Evildoers: Claremont Academy IC [M&M2e]

[EdroGrimshell]

Angelica makes some small talk with Avari until it's time for bed, at which point she tunes into her favorite night station and goes to sleep.

[betafin]

Mr. Smith turns to Avari "Miss Sol---" The calm smile he constantly seems to wear flickers off for a moment as he tries and fails to correctly pronounce her name. He briefly checks the clipboard behind him, checks it again, then puts the smile back on. "Miss Avari."

"Jurisdiction is... to put it simply, Miss Avari, it would be the range you are supposed to take action in. Captain Antes simply feels that most criminals should be handled under the authority and power of the police, rather than hero activity. Unfortunately, such things do not work out so simply." He shrugs.

"And as to whether or not you will meet him in the future, I cannot say. Quite honestly, I am not sure why he showed up this time. It may have simply been an on-the-spot decision. He is... unpredictable, in that sense. You may end up seeing him more than once, though I personally doubt any of you specifically would be the reason." You get the impression that Mr. Smith does not have a very positive relationship with Captain Antes.


Their questions answered, they are dismissed and head back to their dorms (the plane dropped them off on a roof landing near the dorm buildings them immediately flew off in the direction of the city). Unpacking and organizing is somewhat easier for Warp and Curio than most people, given the nature of their abilities - a few of the students from the other dorm rooms spot them while walking by and suggest that they could make some money or favors (you help with your powers, they'll owe you a favor with theirs) helping others move things in the future.

On their return, Avari and Conduit find a notice on their door to leave one of the beds and closets open, as they will have a new roommate tomorrow.

[betafin]

The next day arrives. Today is the first full day, and from what Mr. Smith says during homeroom much of the school year is focused on standard, non-hero curriculum. This is a high school, after all. Your seats are grouped with the rest of your team, and looking around you see that the other groups are in various states of well-being. A few groups are also perfectly fine, but the others, not as much. The two red-haired twins in one group both have a different limb in a sling, for example; another has a girl with huge glasses who you're almost positive had longer hair yesterday (she still has a few visible singe marks); various other bruises, burns or other small signs of injury are generally visible throughout the class. It seems everyone is still here, though.

Before leaving homeroom you receive a small questionnaire to think over and turn in later in the day. It has a few questions on it and you are instructed to keep your answers private. Mr. Smith assures you it won't have a direct bearing on your scores, it's merely for team evaluation.

Answer the following questions as best as you can:

How do you think your first mission went? Why?

How could it have turned out better?

How could it have turned out worse?

Which teammate had the most influence in the mission? The least? Why?

Who was the most strategic?

Who was the most effective?

If you could re-do it, what would you have done differently, if anything?

During the rest of the day, while you notice that your standard curriculum classes genuinely don't seem to have anything related to hero training, you're not sure whether the teachers are heroes or not. Given the nature of Claremont it's a safe bet that many of the new students are trying to figure out the staff's abilities, and if they have a hero identity. You hear some rumors that an underground betting pool inevitably crops up every year over what the teachers can do. All the upper classes are keeping their mouths shut on the issue, probably because they also have their own betting pools on the freshmen figuring things out.

A few examples of your teachers:

Your mathematics teacher, Ms. Enoshima, looks like the serious type. She arrived at class wearing very professional office/teacherwear, and got straight to business. Her most notable aspect was probably her very long, fine hair. It caught the eye. She muttered a bit when speaking, making it a little hard to hear her, but otherwise nothing seemed much out of the ordinary.

Another teacher, Mr. Cauley, handles all the social studies and philosophy courses on his own. He drew everyone's attention immediately - he would have fit into academia perfectly several hundred years ago. He's a large man with a very old-sounding accent, possibly Scottish, a thick beard (thick enough that it looked like he had mutton chops) and loose-fitting clothing that looked almost modern-Renaissance in nature. He spoke as though delivering a lecture with a tone of voice that expected respect from his students. His classroom had no signs of technology in it.

Your general sciences teacher is Mr. Allen, a skinny man with a nervous tick, who verbally fumbled about explaining the goals of the class and some of the basics of biology and chemistry he would be teaching soon. He seemed like the nervous type but apparently had the reflexes to pull it off. Every time he bumped into something one of his hands would be there almost before the second wobble, stabilizing or catching it. It was almost a form of entertainment in its own right, but you really wonder how safe practical labs will be.

After the full day of standard curriculum, you go back to homeroom to turn in your questionnaire and are shown your extracurricular hero electives options. These grades won't be on your "official" transcripts, but will be an influence for your capacities as a hero. While you don't have to, Mr. Smith mentions it is generally recommended to eventually take at least one course totally outside of your specialties, if for nothing else to get an idea of how such things function. Some of the course titles on the list seem strange to you, either in the premise or in the course title: Introduction to Magic, Experimental Technologies, Investigations, Records Archives (Research), Practical Subterfuge, Mythology and You, Applicable Divination, etc.

Everyone:

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Answer questionnaire in spoiler, don't look at the others' answers if you can help it.

Then write down... let's say two electives classes that your character would take. I honestly haven't been able to come up with many options you might want, so if you're looking for something specific that sounds interesting just ask. You can take different courses or share a course with someone. Most likely a safe bet you'll get a benefit of some sort from the courses.

If there's a standard curriculum course you want more information on for whatever reason, I can probably come up with something.

[EdroGrimshell]

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How do you think your first mission went? Why?
I think it went fairly well, no major injuries occured and we completed the mission without causing any significant damage.

How could it have turned out better?
We could have been both faster and more prepared. I myself had not charged beforehand, which left me vulnerable until I could.

How could it have turned out worse?
We could have been noticed before getting into position or one of us could have been injured.

Which teammate had the most influence in the mission? The least? Why?
Look at my answer to "Who is the Most Effective?". I answered it first and it applies here as well.

Who was the most strategic?
Warp, without a doubt. His powers pretty much require it, more so than even Curio's.

Who was the most effective?
If I were to be completely honest I would say it was a balance between everyone. Everyone supplied in various areas that kept us to close in effectiveness to tell which was most or least effective.

If you could re-do it, what would you have done differently, if anything?
Nothing at this point, changing something may very well have led to a worse result, and with the minimal injuries and damage it is the best result we could have gotten on such short notice.

Once she hands in her questionaire and takes a look at the electives, Angelica takes a moment to consider her options before choosing the ones that would be of interest. Introduction to Magic, Experimental Technologies, and Mythology and You. She was more interested in the second one, the other two were something that was more of a general interest from when she was young, she loved the fantasy genre, and magic and mythical creatures tended to prevail in them.

[Mekboy]

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How do you think your first mission went? Why?

The mission went well. We stopped the theives without recieving any major wounds or causing large amounts of damage to the building.

How could it have turned out better?

We could have taken better advantage of the distraction Warp created and been faster to prepare our plan.

How could it have turned out worse?

The theives could have reached their prisoners and threatened us with them.

Which teammate had the most influence in the mission? The least? Why?

Warp had the greatest influence on the mission, as he provided a distraction when we first attacked and helped in the next combat. While Curio provided support with the table, he may have been able to help better.

Who was the most strategic?

Warp was the most strategic because he provided a distraction and removed theives while remaining safely placed.

Who was the most effective?

Conduit was the most effective as she successfully removed two of the theives and rescued their prisoners.

If you could re-do it, what would you have done differently, if anything?

As our team was successful and remained unwounded I would not choose to change anything about our actions.

With the questionnaire handed in, Avari spends a while perusing the various options, then a while more finding out what some of the words mean. So many of them seem interesting, but eventually she settles for Experimental Technologies, Mythology and You and Introduction to Magic.

[BluesEclipse]

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How do you think your first mission went? Why?

It went rather well. No real damage caused to the bank, no hostages lost, and the culprits were caught.

How could it have turned out better?

Honestly, I don't know that there could have been a better outcome - except maybe if we had convinced them to surrender without a fight, but odds of that one happening would've been slim to none.

How could it have turned out worse?

If they had someone in with the hostages, they could've threatened their lives or even killed one or more of them. If we hadn't gone in quietly to begin with, they could've left us in a position where we had to choose between them escaping and people dying.

Which teammate had the most influence in the mission? The least? Why?

For most, it would be a toss-up between Conduit and Avari - the two of them are the ones who put themselves in the line of fire and did the bulk of the fighting. Least... Curio, or maybe myself.

Who was the most strategic?

Avari, definitely - she was the one who planned out our attack here.

Who was the most effective?

Conduit was the most effective, though Avari was close behind.

If you could re-do it, what would you have done differently, if anything?
In all honesty? Nothing - our plan was sound, our tactics worked, and we ended the conflict with no real injuries and no real threat at all to the hostages. I wouldn't want to change things and risk a worse result.

Jacob hands in his questionaire, and looks over the electives offered. He quickly decides to mark down both the Introduction to Magic and Experimental Technologies classes so that he can get more background on two of the most common ways a hero or villain can get their powers, and after a moment also selects the Practical Subterfuge course in the hopes that it might inspire him on some new ways to use his own power - and worst case scenario, he might learn something useful.

[betafin]

You hand your questionnaire in and electives sheet in. Before you leave, Mr. Smith tells the class that after they receive their mission results and begin their electives classes, if their scores are good enough (and they can maintain good grades in standard curriculum) the teams will be allowed to accept "missions" they qualify for that come up. Those will be posted on the freshman bulletin board while they are still applicable.

Warp:

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Returning to their dorms, Warp and Curio are ambushed by about five other freshmen saying that their powers are so freaking useful and asking if they would help them unpack and move their stuff.

Two of them are the twins from your class who each have a different limb in a sling, one is a massive jock-looking guy and the last is a short kid with glasses you don't think you've noticed before.

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Assume that Curio will just go along with whatever you decide. I've decided that since your power is a very good support role one, I'm basically going to be throwing connections at you to take advantage of its' flexibility.

Avari & Conduit:

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On coming back to the dorms, you're alerted that the new dormmate has moved in and is unpacking. They had been with their family up until now and were assigned to your room due to "compatibility reasons."

On entering the room, you can see a thin, medium-tallish girl with long, grey-silver hair that seems to be sticking to her body, as though with static cling. She has her back to you two, it looks like she's just finishing up setting up the last of her stuff. There are various trinkets and knicknacks on her bedside shelf, and a photograph in a frame that she's just placing down. She turns around, looks at you two, looks at Conduit and says "OOooooh, FFFFFFFFFFF--"

The next hour or so consists of her calling the dorm head and very loudly complaining to be put into another room, which is denied, after which she furiously claims that "There is no way I'm going to be sharing this room with that...." --she searches for a word but fails to come up with one-- "bitch!" she finishes lamely. She also seems irritated that she couldn't come up with a better word. You can see the name "Alicia Serrias" on some of her papers lying around.

Conduit:

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You sense a disturbance in the Force.

Avari:

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You're a cheerful, upbeat, optimistic person, right? Welp, have fun with negotiations and diplomacy!

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Well, Halloween's over now...

[EdroGrimshell]

"I have a feeling this is about my father," Angelica says, simply going over to her bed, she was used to this sort of thing, "you do know I'd prefer he go to hell myself, right?" she continues as if nothing was odd about it, "he killed my mother and tried to kidnap me when he found out I even existed. Not really an ideal father figure. Only good thing I got from him was my ability to absorb electricity," she seemed to not really be paying attention, and the mask of boredom she usually used was in place now, only people that could sense emotion or knew her really well would be able to tell what she was actually feeling, "I'm not him. Now, I'm going to the roof. See you tomorrow Avari," she says, already deciding she'd probably be staying up their tonight. She takes her pack and a rolled up bundle from her closet before going outside, briefly channeling electricity to her power harness and jumping up to the roof. She could have used the stairs, but honestly, this was a better way for her to calm down. Once their, she tunes into the radio signal and looks for her favorite channel and leans against the roof entrance.

[BluesEclipse]

Chuckling, Jacob says, "Eh... I suppose we can give you a hand. Just remember, you guys owe us one. Alright?"

[Mekboy]

Remaining quiet on her bed for after Angelica leaves, Avari spends a while thinking. Angelica had not really mentioned her father much in their previous conversations, and now it was obvious why. Alicia – that was her name, right? – did seem to have some big problem with her. Naturally, she disagreed with Alicia, after all, Angelica was a friend. They had fought together. Still, if she could at least try to make friends with Alicia, she could try and convince her Angelica was alright. Recalling her and Angelica’s first conversation, she begins.

“My name is Avari Ethnul. I do not want to argue with you, but Angelica is my friend. She seems to me to be a good person. I do not want that to be a barrier between us. Please can we discuss other things? I understand everyone here is different from normal in some way. What is it that you can do?”

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If necessary, Diplomacy: (1d20+12)[15]

[betafin]

Warp:

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Helping them move is easy enough.

You immediately find out that the large guy's main problem was that everything he owns has to be reinforced, and thus is non-collapsible or disassemblable, and thus a pain to get through doorways. His name is Chaz (codename - Goliath), and he has some sort of earth-elemental affinity. You don't really understand it and he wasn't very good at describing it, but it has something to do with proximity to the Earth and earth itself. Despite him looking like a jock, he seems to be a decent person. The material of much of his stuff is so dense that Curio has a lot of trouble bending it even slightly through possession and animation, and you find that you have to really concentrate to move it accurately (without missing and breaking the room). It seems like high density and weight (or maybe the materials?) can somewhat throw off your precision.

Moving on to the twins (Darren and Derrick; aka Dual and Duos), you learn that their abilities are mutal support when they act in tandem with someone - essentially, they boost the effects and capabilities of themselves and other people (especially each other) when they work together. This apparently has something to do with their injuries, but they really don't seem like they want to talk about it. They say they would be able to do the moving themselves, but also (looking very awkward) tell you that they would probably cause each other more injuries from 'boosting' as a result of already having their current ones.

Finally, the small kid with the glasses (Martin, codenamed Asterisk). He has the physical strength of the common lemongrass and the first thing he does is flat-out refuse Curio's direct help, as everything he owns is sensetive technology and he doesn't want to risk something breaking, so Curio is delegated to possessing a table and quietly rolling things along back and forth from a moving truck that just arrived. Mountains of computer and technology parts later, he thanks you and informs you that he can handle setting everything up from here. He says he's going into investigations and archives, so if you need help just ask.

They all give you their numbers and owe a favor or two.

Avari:

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She looks incredibly... angry? It's hard to tell at this point. She looks like she's about to cry from frustration. "I don't care," she says, "It's not something I expect you to understand. I... know I have to room with her. I can put up with it. But I do not want to. I don't want to get to know her. I just want... Rrrrgh!"

She seems resigned to the fact that they are making her room here, and doesn't seem to hold anything against you (except maybe by proxy). She throws her stuff into place and lays down to go to sleep without another word.

Conduit:

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Sitting on the roof, Conduit stares up at the stars that are starting to emerge as the sky grows dark. She sits and watches for a long time as the night deepens, and the moon rises above the city skyline.

Excuse me, miss. It is dorm policy to be indoors, in your room at night." You may or may not have flinched, depending on how you choose to remember it. Really, this is the second time a teacher has caught you unawares in a two-day timespan, you might really start to suspect that the teachers are closet sadists or something. It's like none of them have even heard of introducing themselves first... Anyway, looking over, you see that it's the mathematics teacher, Ms. Enoshima.

"Apologies, I'm still learning the dorm rosters. I am in charge of this section, you see. You are..." and she checks a personnel list. "Ah? Oh. Ooooooh..." You hear her mutter as she flips through to your page, and then to another page following that. "So that's what's up?"

She sits down next to you. "Look, I don't blame you for anything. But others might... especially if people around them have been hurt. I might not have any right to say this, but my advice is to just give it time. Let things run their course, and they will eventually heal." She pats you on the back. "But either way, you have to stay in your dorms at night. It's... well, I'm not really sure why, but it's one of those traditions."

She gets up and opens the roof access door back to the downstairs landing, gesturing you to go back down. "If you need someone to talk to, just ask."

[EdroGrimshell]

"Sorta thought it was tradition to sneak out and have a night on the town," Angelica says, still leaning against the roof, "just give me tonight, and I'll be fine staying in the dorm, just need some time to calm down, and I'm sure she does too..." she requests, this happened every now and then, normally, she'd have ignored it, but, every now and then, it'd break through. This was one of those times.

[betafin]

Conduit:

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"Well..." She checks her watch. "...Look, you have half an hour before the security systems come on. And they're not all electronic, or technological. I really think it would be a good idea for you to be in your dorm room, but, if you really don't want to go back there tonight... I guess I could let you use the couch in my quarters." She gives a deep sigh, perhaps from exhasperation or resignation.

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I actually meant to have that as the reason behind the "tradition" but forgot to add it in when I was proofing it, and that probably would have changed your response. Sorry about that.

But yeah, the upperclassmen do start to sneak out when they've become skilled enough. There are some reasons why it's not a good idea for the newer students to be out, that'll come up later.

[EdroGrimshell]

"Thanks," Angelica says, deciding to go with the teacher. She wouldn't say any more than that tonight, at least, not while she was awake.

[Mekboy]

With the chances for any further conversation somewhat stymied by the fact that Alicia is asleep, Avari drifts off as well.

[BluesEclipse]

After helping the others move, Warp and Curio decide to head back to their own dorm for the rest of the night.

[betafin]

Avari:

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During the night, you are woken up by crackling noises. You open your eyes in time to see a flash of electricity crackling up the wall where Alicia is sleeping. Then there's nothing. Then another bolt of electricity sparks across the ceiling, leaving a small black trail behind it.

This occurs sporadically throughout the night. You start to suspect the exact reason why she was assigned this room. In the morning, if you so choose to bring it up:

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Alicia's face turns red and she says nothing, hurridly getting her things and rushing out of the room. It seems as though this is something that is very embarrassing to her.

Morning comes, you get ready and head for class. All of you meet up around the same point in the entryway of the hallway and walk to class. You remember that today is when you are supposed to get your mission results back, and feel slightly apprehensive. The rest of the class is already crowded around a paper pinned up by the door, and you can hear some cheers and groans.

Squeezing through the crowd to look, you can see the results (in no particular order). Oddly, there is no visible overall score - it the categories that are being measured are coordination, efficacy, collateral, directness, indirectness and ingenuity. It seems to be out of 100? There's no indicator of scale, or even if any of the scores are good or bad.

Your scores are:

Coordination: 78
Efficacy: 89
Collateral: 14
Directness: 87
Indirectness: 13
Ingenuity: 20

You hear a triumphant "Hah!" from Alicia, who has her finger on her team, or more specifically, their efficacy of 99. Their coordination score is lower by at least 10, but the others are about the same or higher. Ingenuity (70) is easily the highest ingenuity score of the teams. Some nearby people mutter darkly, and the girl with singed hair (team collateral: 50) walks off griping something about 'her not having to something something out-of-control fires.'

In homeroom, Mr. Smith casually dodges any questions about the scores, leaving some people looking very depressed, and passes out the locations of your electives classes. They will take place every day after the standard classes, one per day, on a daily rotation basis.

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Do you have a specific order you want the elective courses to be in? Ie which one today, tomorrow, the next day?

[EdroGrimshell]

Ingenuity, probably low because we went with a rather direct approach, which is reflected in our scores. I don't think we caused much collateral damage, the worst was a filing cabinet from Warp and the table from Curio. So Low on Collateral is probably good. We'll have to work on indirect combat, though Warp and Curio have powers geared towards that, hopefully Intro to Magic and Experimental Tech will help me with that a bit so I can help the others.

Angelica's thoughts continue to analyze until she gets into class, which she decided she'd be wearing her harness to every day from now on since that surprise 'test' on their first day, and she charged up before class, bringing a few half dead AA batteries, as an emergency power source, she'd need to get rechargeable ones later, maybe some high power ones once she got into Experimental Tech.

She glances at Alicia, it was best she not talk to her, but she wanted to at least know what her gripe with her was, if it was just because her father was a villain and she saw her as her father's daughter, then it wasn't worth the trouble, but, if it was another reason, maybe she could work around it somehow. For now though, she'd have to just wait and see.

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For Order:
1) Introduction to Magic
2) Experimental Technologies
3) Mythology and You

[BluesEclipse]

Jacob looks at the scores, thinking over them for a moment. Not too bad... Coordination is good for a group that hasn't really worked together before, and the Efficacy is nothing to sneeze at. Low Collateral can only be a good thing, though it's somewhat surprising that we still seem to trend towards a direct approach even with me and Curio both on the team. Still, it seemed appropriate for the situation. Ingenuity... we can work on that one, I suppose. Not bad overall, it looks like. Nodding to himself, he heads towards the cluster of seats reserved for his team. "Mornin'... sleep well?" he asks, casually.

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Elective Order:
Introduction to Magic
Experimental Technologies
Practical Subterfuge

[Mekboy]

Looking over the scores, Avari is quite happy with the results. Low scores in indirectness and ingenuity, in that case simple had proven to be effective. The coordination score was particularly pleasing.

In response to Warp's greeting she scowls slightly. "We have a new person in our room. She is decidedly vocal about having to share with Angelica. And while she was sleeping she awoke me with sparks of electricity." Smiling, she continues. "That aside it was acceptable. The sleeping arrangements here are quite comfortable."

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Electives:
Introduction to Magic
Experimental technology
Mythology and you

[EdroGrimshell]

"Don't concern yourself with it Avari," Angelica says, "she has a problem with my father, most likely, he's a rather well known villain, people tend to project their dislike for him onto me if they know my heritage, and most people do, unfortunately," she glances at her again, "It's a waste of time to worry about it at this point, as long as she doesn't decide to instigate anything we'll be fine," she shakes her head at this point, "I gave her time to calm down last night. If what you said about her sparking is right, I have a feeling I know why she was put there, and why I need to be in the room."

[betafin]

Mr. Smith lets you go for the day, telling you the days and times the electives will be held. He mentions that those who selected Introduction to Magic will be able to begin later that day, and wishes you best of luck. On that subject, he also advised those who applied to have patience and perseverance, in the same exact tone of voice as when he spoke to you about Captain Antes.

Most of the day is, for lack of a better word, mundane. The closest to interesting is math, which is largely self-study as Ms. Enoshima is filling out paperwork for most of the class. The occasional crossing of paths with Alicia results in her face turning slightly red and quickening her pace, not looking at Conduit at all. At the end of the day you rush towards what you have really been looking for, the first electives course.

Arriving at the location for Introduction to Magic you can see a medium-sized group already there, and a few familiar faces from your homeroom nod hello on recognizing you. It seems that a lot of people took an interest in the course. Some look nervous, others oddly skeptical, and very few comfortable and at-home. The door opens.

You walk inside to a *very* spacious, old-looking circular room with a large ornate circular carpet covering much of the floor, chairs evenly spaced against the walls and another door at the end. Relatively high up on the walls are shelves with various arcane and occult-looking items - candelabras with intricate runes across them, a stack of tarot cards, various strange medallions, an antique Victorian era-esque doll, a sword, a vicious-looking spear, etc. The chandelier's candles illuminate the entire room with a soft glow, but much brighter than candles should be able to. There are exquisite wooden carvings on just about everything, including the paneling. The door opposite you opens, and a secretarial-looking woman steps out, gestures for you all to follow her, then steps back in.

The group moves forward, and when everyone is through the door shuts behind you all. You're in a library with a literal maze of bookshelves that stretch all the way up to the low ceiling. There is no sign of the secretary from before, but in front of you is a placard stating: "The path to knowledge is not immediately obvious."

A few students nod to themselves and immediately start walking in random directions, with the rest following someone else or choosing their own direction. Some use their abilities - a guy with spiky black hair closes his eyes and begins walking, and you can see a faint glow as the outline in the shape of another pair of eyes traces across his forehead. Another classmate, a girl with short recently cut hair and very large glasses, takes out a crystal on a chain and swings it slightly before moving on in a very sporadic path.

There is the opening around you, with eight gaps in the bookshelves - one in each cardinal direction with another inbetween two, like a + overlaid with an x. The wall and door are no longer visible, you notice.

Everyone:

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Okay, I have this figured out. Choose what to do, and with each post you make, even if a reply post, make a will save and then EITHER an investigate, notice, search or survival check. You may want to mix those checks up every so often. This won't take long if you roll well or are inventive.

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Sorry this was late, but bloody hell it took me a long time to come up with a workable way to do this. Everything I thought up with was either reliant on real-time interaction or would take an entire year to get through...

[EdroGrimshell]

Angelica closes her eyes and extends her senses, particularly her electrosensory abilities, before opening her eyes again, "Jacob, Avari, let's see if we can't find where we're supposed to go," she says quietly. Then consults her senses to see which way they should go.

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Will Save: (1d20+6)[18]
Notice: (1d20+10)[15]

[BluesEclipse]

Nodding, Jacob answers, "Yeah... though... the phrase there seems almost like a riddle. Maybe that has something to do with it?" Jacob thinks as he scans the room for any indication of the correct path.

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Will: (1d20+4)[20]
Notice: (1d20+4)[22]

[Mekboy]

Avari considers the note. "Maybe this is not real? This place is for magic, yes? It could be some form of false image..." She walks over and places a hand on a bookshelf, partly to test its reality, partly to examine in more closely.

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Will: (1d20+4)[9]
Search: (1d20+2)[20]

Also, can I sense anything particularly odd through scent or ultrasonic hearing?

[betafin]

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Curio:
Will Save: (1d20+10)[11]
Survival: (1d20+10)[11]

Curio feels trapped here. Something nags at him, though, and he frowns slightly and starts thinking. After a few seconds, he asks Conduit and Avari how the other students' progress is - how far away are they, how are they moving, etc. That said, he has no idea what the information could signify and starts feeling totally lost.

Conduit senses the surroundings and identifies the other students milling around the maze, some more purposeful and directed than others, but aside from that there are no signs of anyone else. It seems like the maze is much larger than it initially seems, from how spaced out they're getting, and... it also seems like everyone is moving in a gradual clockwise manner. As she focuses on figuring this out she suddenly realizes that, counting their presences, there is one student missing! She has no idea when it happened, though. Looking at her immediate surroundings, she just sees immaculately clean and ornate wood-carved bookshelves on carpet, nothing else of note. Each direction looks as good as any.

Warp immediately hones in on one very fundamental fact: it's a maze! And as such, everyone is, naturally, wandering around in it. Glancing around him, he sees that everything looks the same in any given direction -- aside from the books looking different, of course. There are no discernable patterns in the books, though, which are very thick, have old bindings and are all in languages he can't read, or even recognize.

Avari uses her powerful senses and tells the others that she identifies... dust, but only in the center of the room where they're standing. Listening for the other students, she can hear that the ones further away are either moving the fastest or backtracking the most. A few are cursing as well. Several of the people closer by are moving slower, or at least more purposefully. Reaching over to examine the bookshelves she notices that there are no books labels, or anything that distinguishes them from any of the others. Putting some weight against it does not budge in the slightest. By all means it appears to be real.

Avari and Curio seem to be getting really fidgety and feel like they want to start moving and exploring. The rest of you don't feel the need.

[Mekboy]

Trailing her hand along the bookshelf, Avari starts to wander down the nearest corridor. "It feels real... Maybe I am thinking too much. We should start moving."

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Will: (1d20+4)[14]
Notice: (1d20+10)[19]

Also, just to clarify, ultrasonic hearing is for tones higher than human hearing (dog whistles, bat's sonar, et.c.), not just hearing at greater accuracy.

[BluesEclipse]

Thinking for a moment, Jacob looks back at the message again. "There's something we're missing... something important. Though, I would've thought that the path to knowledge would've been outside this place - we're pretty much surrounded by knowledge here, right?" He gestures at the books as an example. "...You don't suppose we're supposed to find something in these books that will help us figure out the right path?"

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Will: (1d20+4)[17]
Investigate: (1d20+2)[22]

[EdroGrimshell]

"...One of the students is missing, or isn't emitting electrical impulses," Angelica says, "honestly, I suggest just staying here, the fact it says 'not immediately obvious' makes me think we should do the opposite of what we'd normally do."

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Will Save: (1d20+6)[26]
Notice: (1d20+10)[24]

[betafin]

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Curio rolls:
Will save: (1d20+10)[30]
Search: (1d20+8)[20]