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

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."

THE BONFIRE: Eldith & Yrsa

[yrsa]

Blessedly, bonfires are not something Yrsa feels the need to bluster about so Eldith is spared being told what bonfires feel like on some obscure realm. For now, anyway. Instead, they shove their hand dangerously close to the flames, in case they missed something obvious. And possibly because their judgement is already a little impaired from the night's celebrations. "Yeah, how's that?"

THE BONFIRE: Eldith & Yrsa

[eldith]

"There's no bite." Eldith narrows her eyes at the fire, as if that will somehow reveal the trick. "Maybe a safety spell?" Not that she was aware of any that made fire feel safe.

THE BONFIRE: Eldith & Yrsa

[yrsa]

Magical theory is not Yrsa's forte at the best of times. And now? Well. Far simpler to just stick their hand directly into a fire to see just how safe it feels. Or, well. Swat their fingertips through it at least. Neither turns out to be a great idea and they let out a quick, sharp hiss as they pull their hand away. After a moment they present their hand to Eldith, "No puppet fingers," they say, wiggling some fleshy (if a little toasty) fingers at her, sounding disappointed.

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?"

Ebba & Arlo

[wereyote]

At first, Arlo thinks that she is talking to someone else. He's caught off-guard when he realizes she's speaking to him.

"Well, it does seem very interesting, doesn't it? I've heard all sorts of curious things." he says, excited but awkward.

Ebba & Arlo

[ebba]

"Someone told me there were crocodilians." This is far more interesting to Ebba than her tone likely conveys. Her voice always sounds -- to her ear -- much more slow and pondering than other humanoid peers. "I've never seen anything like that before."

She sets her drink down to warm her hands. When she rubs them together, they give off chalk dust that sparkles in the firelight.

"It can't be so dangerous," she finds herself musing.

Ebba & Arlo

[wereyote]

"I'd kind of like to see them. I hear there's other treasures to be found as well," Arlo says, perhaps surprisingly into this. He is a wild werebeast that grew up among thieves and rogues, however, and running loose in the woods seems less uncomfortable to him than trying to navigate these new social circles he'd found himself thrust into the middle of.

He gets up from his seat before the fire. "It can't be that dangerous. It sounds like everyone's gone there. Do you want to go?"

Ebba & Arlo

[ebba]

"Treasures?" Ebba's definition is likely different than most, but she's open to new experiences. Perhaps she'd enjoy treasure-hunting as much as she enjoys staring into fires and philosophizing about their warmth. "Those are claims someone should verify."

She holds up an outstretched hand to Arlo in response. "I'm somewhat intoxicated. Can you help me up?"

Ebba & Arlo

[wereyote]

Perhaps adventuring gear and valuable herbs weren't everyone's idea of "treasures", but Arlo was pretty excited about it.

He readily offers her his hand. "I haven't had much of anything, so you can hang onto me, if you like! Do you need to grab any supplies or anything? No worries, if not. I've got plenty."

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: Biblioplex Bunch

[helmineblackwater]

"Boooo," Helmine says again, though her tone is light and she's grinning her Cheshire Cat grin and it's clear she's accepted that Velvet will behaving. At least for tonight. She takes the mushrooms, plucks one out, and tears it into two pieces, immediately handing the slightly larger one over to Hecate. She had promised to go first. Or, at least, before Helmine. She then passes the bag along to the next person.

Bright-eyed and exhilarated, she leans in conspiratorially close to her new friends, "So! What do you think will happen...? These can't just be any common mushrooms."

THE BONFIRE: Biblioplex Bunch

[pepromancy]

"Moonshrooms are a mild intoxicant from the plane of Ikoria with a chalky texture and light flavour." Flavian dutifully recites. Her eyes flash a little in anticipation when she actually takes one of the crescent-shaped caps out of the bag, examining it like perhaps the mushroom itself would reveal the answer. "It didn't say exactly what to expect." She sounds unfortunately thrilled about that prospect, tossing the bag with a little wink to the next subject. Friend. Whatever.

Re: THE BONFIRE: Biblioplex Bunch

[spurlark]

"Guess we're about to find out," Larkspur says, ominous and cheerful as she takes one.

THE BONFIRE: Biblioplex Bunch

[quickwitted]

"Are we supposed to chew these?" Farrow asks, clearly unimpressed with the idea of putting an entire raw mushroom in her mouth.

THE BONFIRE: Biblioplex Bunch

[yrsa]

The past few years have been a time of absolutely not putting mystery fungi into Yrsa's mouth, but admitting they're uncertain how to proceed would be decidedly Not Cool in front of their new friends. Especially when Helmine looks so eager to try this out. "We could try both ways. For science."

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: Pocket & Sivle & Ashling

[grrgirl]

"Smell what?" asks a rumbly voice near Pocket's feet. "I like a good smell." It's Ashling, third Witch's Brew in hand and smoke drifting out of her now messy crimson mouth.

THE BONFIRE: Pocket & Sivle & Ashling

[elvish_presley]

"The smell of ADVENTURE!" Sivle announces. "Look, look!" He beckons Ashling closer, turning his head to show off the single fanged earring he fashioned.

THE BONFIRE: Pocket & Sivle & Ashling

[metrognome]

"We killed a swamp monster," Pocket brags, giving the truth a wide breadth. "It was soooo scared of us that it just dropped dead."

THE BONFIRE: Pocket & Sivle & Ashling

[grrgirl]

As her various jewelry attests, Ashling is a big fan of teeth. She's never seen a fang like this before, and gets up to look at it with somewhat jarring abruptness.

"Pointy," she comments, giving Pocket an impressed look. "Good work. HOW'D you spook it?"

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 BONFIRE: Czernobog & Narcissus

[amaryllidaceae]

Narcissus has already taken his seat by the fire and lifted his drink for a sip before he even notices someone else is across from him. He looks, wide eyed and eyebrows lifted, like he might be thinking better of it. Desire not to be rude wins out in the end, though, and he manages a smile. He lifts his drink in salute. "Lovely evening, isn't it?"