Rush Week Party

[strixmod]

RUSH PARTY

As students spill out of the Biblioplex's grand hall following the pledge ceremony, a new buzz of excitement rolls over the campus like a tidal wave. It's time for Felisa's Rush Week Party. A longstanding Strixhaven tradition, this party is held in a different location every year, and freshmen students are left to their own devices to find it. The hint Farrow received leads the freshman cohort to Witherbloom campus in the early evening. From there, the group makes their way towards Sedgemoor, where they find the upperclassmen congregating near a massive Treehouse, building a bonfire and slinging spells around to form a cordoned-off mud pit. No surprise ambush here, but the mud wrestling competition is absolutely real.

Though the party is centered around the residence of the Witherbloom seniors, Sedgemoor looms large in the distance. While the upperclassmen warn freshmen that Sedgemoor is home to crocodilian creatures, giant spiders, and brackish trudges, they also spend a good chunk of the evening joyfully recounting their many adventures there. According to Felisa, there are plenty of valuable herbs and spell components to be found in the swamp, along with the occasional bit of abandoned adventuring gear.

At the end of the evening, older students escort the freshmen back to central campus for their last night at the Inn before they move into their own homes tomorrow morning.

REFRESHMENTS

Meticulously crafted by one of Felisa's Prismari underlings, the spread of savory appetizers and sweets is impressive. There are cheesy lava buns, blackberry pies, and an assortment of craft cocktails available. The Spider's Kiss is a black cherry and vodka drink which leaves your mouth feeling numb for several minutes. The Witches' Brew roils like it's full of dry ice, although it never stops (you might even be burping up little puffs of fog). And, of course, there's a classic Zombie, which are made especially strong.

THE TREEHOUSE

The home of the Senior Witherbloom cohort, the Treehouse is a sprawling and gravity-defying construction which rests on the edge of Sedgemoor swamp. Tonight, it's lit by dozens of cantrip faerie lights, and the common spaces are open to partygoers. The bonfire is built in a central courtyard of sorts; all the upper levels of the house are illuminated by the blaze. Several rope ladders lead up into the living room and kitchen spaces, and a winding staircase wraps around the trunk of a particularly large tree, leading to the private rooms of the cohort. The interior is warm, cozy, and lit by floating lanterns which cast spooky flickering shadows on the walls. The living room features seating in the form of loose pillows and poufs, and hammocks which serve the purpose of chairs and sofas. The kitchen is large and well-stocked, and features a panoramic window which looks out onto the depths of Sedgemoor.

Witherbloom senior Dinah volunteers her bathroom for anyone who wants to shower off after mud wrestling. All she asks is you clean up after yourselves!

PLAYLIST

Special thanks to K for curating this playlist! You can also find it here if the embed isn't working.

LOCATIONS

WHAT'S UP?

For arrivals, outfits, and general attitudes.

THE BONFIRE

Sedgemoor is quiet and still tonight, and the pool of warmth and light provided by the party bonfire feels safe and small.

THE TREEHOUSE

Inside, students play spin-the-bottle and help themselves to the refreshments.

MUD WRESTLING

To participate in the mud wrestling competition, either post your character under the "ROUND 1" header, or reply to an open challenger. Once matches are made, each character must make a strength check. Higher check wins; ties roll off. If you win a Round 1 match-up, you may proceed to Round 2 and so forth.

EAVESDROPPING?

These short scenes between NPCs can each be overheard by one freshman student. Just reply to the scene you want your character to have observed!

SEDGEMOOR

Wandering out into the swamp may result in curious finds or unfortunate encounters.

OOC CHATTER!

Questions, comments, concerns?

(CODE)

Comments

WHAT'S UP?

[strixmod]

WHAT'S UP, Ashling?

[grrgirl]

Having taken the genuine bear leather loincloth for herself, Ashling is a sight for more eyes. On top, she's only wearing what amounts to a ton of long necklaces (some definitely Lupercan, like animal teeth or whatever, and some that can best be described as "obviously stolen"), with her long hair loose in front of it and down her back. Her mouth is smeared with carmine red lipstick a fancy lady dropped in front of her once.

This is Ashling's first one-shape party, and her senses are heightened. It's not that she's on edge exactly, but okay yes, maybe she's slightly on edge. There's a lot to prove here!!

WHAT'S UP?: Velvet (and Adrian)

[sanguinario]

Paranoid about lingering cave slime stink despite doing everything magical and mundane to cover it up, Velvet takes extra care with applying her makeup and putting together a hot but swamp-appropriate outfit. Leather jacket, flexible pants, knee-length boots, all in black. The vibe is: not planning on mud wrestling, but just ambiguous enough that you might wonder if it's on the table.

Velvet also insists that Adrian walk with her, so they can arrive arm-in-arm. Everyone look at what a tall and attractive heterosexual couple they make!!!

WHAT'S UP, Ebba?

[ebba]

A beige shadow in her nondescript linen clothing, Ebba's aura is one of curiosity easily confused for anthropological interest.

WHAT'S UP, Myrto?

[myrto]

Despite what her interactions in writing might portray, Myrto has in fact left her family's estate many times, and is well-used to a very particular kind of outing: dancing epics in private homes, providing private entertainment for rich and intimidating nobility with no true appreciation of art. She knows that this is not going to be like that, but isn't sure what that means, and it's exciting and scary to think about. Is this being young and free? What if Cosmo is there?

Anyway, she swans into the swamp looking all set for a late night in some official's expensive Setessan villa. Her oiled legs and arms are on display in a short chiton of dove grey gauze, with silver laurels shining atop her perfumed head. Her skin's luminosity makes her difficult to miss.

WHAT'S UP?, Iris (and Arlo!)

[werevulpes]

Iris is very interested in this party and even more so by The Treehouse! She wearing a practical outfit that isn't very flashy and offers anyone (even those she hasn't met or spoken to yet) a friendly smile.

Like they've likely been seen throughout the week, Iris shows up with Arlo! The only exception being the duel since Arlo was trying to prove a point to his new friend.

WHAT'S UP, Larkspur?

[spurlark]

Larkspur shows up looking very vampirey; she's used her Alter Self spell to give herself little goat horns to complete the look. She smells strongly of tomato juice because she tried to get rid of the slime smell, but now she just smells like tomato juice instead. Hopefully, everyone will be too drunk to notice!

WHAT'S UP, Yrsa?

[yrsa]

Uncertain if they were walking into a party or a fight, Yrsa's been sure to dress to intimidate. Not that their wardrobe has much to offer right now outside of well worn leather and ratty furs, but they've smeared some paint across their eyes and spent a surprising amount of time meticuously braiding their hair into an ornate style to really play up that post-apoc valkyrie vibe.

Once it becomes clear this is a party, they're eager to indulge, carouse, and show off for their classmates.

WHAT'S UP, Hecate?

[hexslinger]

Hecate shows up ready to throw DOWN!!! — and is pleasantly surprised to find the upperclassmen... pleasant?

She's wearing something like this, which she considers multi-functional as a party outfit, a swimsuit, AND a wrestling costume. There's a rapier at her hip, but the handle is decorative enough that maybe it's a Statement Piece... A statement that she's ready to FIGHT! Always be ready for anything!!!

WHAT'S UP, Flavian?

[pepromancy]

Flavian arrived dressed in exactly the wrong outfit for swamp mud wrestling on purpose. If she has to fight, she'll wear the blood and mud as a badge of honor. There is a knife in the inside pocket of that comfy sweater. She never has the opportunity to draw it, though, because first of all, the upperclassmen are fine. Secondly, they're in Witherbloom. She suspected this may happen, but she wants to make a good impression on her brand new home, and once there are obviously no dangers of either humiliation to her sister or bodily harm to anyone, she relaxes a little and tries to be at least a teensy bit charming.

WHAT'S UP, Nedward?

[underhandling]

At home, you can tell when everyone's getting down n dirty when the coatsleeves come off, consequently, Ned shows up dressed like a newsie in a flat cap, suspenders and an already-stained shirt with the sleeves rolled up. Never one to kick a free party horse in the mouth, he enjoys himself infinitely and will chat to whomever approaches.

WHAT'S UP, Astra?

[fullofstars]

Astra's outfit this fine evening consists of her hair braided into a corset top and several scanty pieces of hide armor and fur.

THE BONFIRE

[strixmod]

THE BONFIRE: Eldith & OPEN

[eldith]

Eldith looks upon the bonfire with concern as someone who knows what it's like to work with a flame. "This is not what a bonfire should feel like."

Ebba & Open

[ebba]

Flames warming her stone limbs, Ebba is not precisely in her element but finding herself far more comfortable than she imagined, especially the more she sips from her second ever drink (a Zombie! which sort of counts as three drinks, honestly). It's making her thoughts tumble over one another in such a pleasant way. She feels inspired!

Buzzed, Ebba turns her strange gemstone eyes to the person closest. "Do you want to go out on the Sedgemoor?"

THE BONFIRE: Biblioplex Bunch

[sanguinario]

"I'm not partaking tonight," Velvet says as she pulls out a bag of mushrooms, claimed back from Flavian after their research session. "Someone needs to make sure that none of you wander into the swamp and die."

She told Helmine that she was practicing moderation, but truthfully Velvet is more worried about continuing to hide her afterhours activities from a certain nosy someone. Also, she's an RA now? She doesn't quite know what this entails yet, but it makes her feel... important. Responsible. Run wild, little ducklings. Mama will protect you. (That Hecate, Helmine and Farrow are also RAs is a fun fact but ultimately irrelevant.)

Velvet hands the mushrooms to the person sitting to her right.

THE BONFIRE: Pocket & Sivle

[metrognome]

"Why do I still smell it?" Pocket whines as she and Sivle stumble out of the swamp. She has a sharp tooth sticking out of her shirt and her hair is even more wild than usual, but her main focus seems to be finding a damn drink.

THE BONFIRE: Czernobog & OPEN++

[czerno]

As tempting as it was to show up to this party fully kitted out for battle, common sense (and his sister) prevailed, and Cze only brought a nice, reasonable machete. Muddy, buzzed and still feeling out of his depth, he wanders away from the Treehouse and pulls his machete from his belt. He'd taken it off before jumping into mud wrestling, but some swamp muck is stuck there anyway.

Luckily, he always keeps a rag on hand for just this kind of situation. He takes a seat in front of the bonfire and starts giving his machete a good wipedown. This feels familiar, at least.

THE TREEHOUSE

[strixmod]

SPIN THE BOTTLE

[strixmod]

To participate, reply to this comment with your character's name and a number, starting from 1 and going up sequentially. In the discord, roll 1d# to determine who your character's spin lands on.

THE TREEHOUSE: Adrian & Open

[profundity]

Adrian is overdressed for this party and generally uncomfortable. Now Velvet's also wandered off with her friends, which he supposes is a good thing. Part of the reason his father had wanted them to attend Strixhaven was to make the same lifelong connections that had served him so well.

But, in all honesty, Adrian isn't really sure how to make friends. His upbringing in Park Heights had been fairly sheltered, and all his friends had been selected for him by his mother. He already likes several of his classmates here more than any of his friends back home, but he's floundering to make connections the way Velvet seems to do so easily.

Still, the bar in this kitchen is well-stocked, and he knows something about college parties.

"Can I make you a drink?" he asks the next freshman who wanders into the kitchen.

MUD WRESTLING

[strixmod]

To participate in the mud wrestling competition, either post your character under the "ROUND 1" header, or reply to an open challenger. Once matches are made, each character must make a strength check. Higher check wins; ties roll off. If you win a Round 1 match-up, you may proceed to Round 2 and so forth.

ROUND 1

[strixmod]

EAVESDROPPING?

[strixmod]

EAVESDROPPING: Mina and Javenesh in the kitchen

[strixmod]

Mina is sitting cross-legged on the counter top. Javenesh is mixing her a drink that seems to be very complicated.

“Three of them?” Mina asks

“They’re good,” Javenesh says.

“Doesn’t your tongue feel like it’s going to fall out?”

Javenesh shakes his head.

“I had one sip and my mouth is still numb,” Mina says.

“Must not work on owlin.”

“Too bad,” Mina says. “It’s kind of fun.”

“You know what we should do?” Javenesh asks as he hands Mina her new, mouth-numbing-berry-free drink. “Espresso shot shots.”

“Caffeine and liquor.” Mina laughs. “Do you want people to die?”

“No,” Javenesh says. “Well, maybe Gallia. A little bit.”

Mina goes “pshawwwww,” at this, clearly teasing. Javenesh ignores her and walks off, grumbling to himself.

SEDGEMOOR

[strixmod]

If your character wants to explore Sedgemoor, leave a comment here explaining what they're attempting to do, how willing they are to fight a Creature, and who they went with if applicable.

I am going to be a little busy this weekend, but I'm hoping to have some time tomorrow to get to exploration responses! Please be patient with me if there's a wait.

SEDGEMOOR: Pocket & Sivle

[metrognome]

Pocket and Sivle are (inadvisably) heading out into the Sedgemoor. Pocket is convinced all that danger talk is BS and there's just a bunch of upperclassmen hiding in the reeds to jump out at them, and Sivle would prefer she didn't die. Or, if she does, then at least let him get the full story so he can relay it in song.

Either way, they're mostly out here looking for a story to tell when they get back, plus pretty flowers or shiny rocks to put up in their new dorms. And while they're not particularly keen on fighting a Creature, Pocket is convinced they're all just seniors and won't back down immediately.

They also haven't joined spin the bottle yet, so if they're gross by the time they get back there even better.

OOC: PLANNING & PLOTTING

[strixmod]

OOC: GM INQUIRIES

[strixmod]

Anything else that needs my attention as a GM can be discussed here! This includes questions/interactions for NPCs, clarifying questions about the setting, or nudging me if it's been more than a day since I've replied to a thread and you need a response.