Weekchange #16: December 15 - December 21, 1996

[paracelsus_mods]

"Beavis and butthead I am cornholio" (Watch on YouTube)

December 15 - December 21, 1996

A reference for which OOC days are which IC days:

Sunday 22/Monday 23 = Sunday 15, tag: ~week #16: 12/15/1996 (sunday)
Tuesday 24/Wednesday 25 = Monday 16, tag: ~week #16: 12/16/1996 (monday)
Thursday 26/Friday 27 = Tuesday 17, tag: ~week #16: 12/17/1996 (tuesday)
Saturday 28/Sunday 29 = Wednesday 18, ~week #16: 12/18/1996 (wednesday)
Monday 30/Tuesday 31 = Thursday 19, ~week #16: 12/19/1996 (thursday)
Wednesday 1/Thursday 2 = Friday 20, ~week #16: 12/20/1996 (friday)
Friday 3/Saturday 4 = Saturday 21, ~week #16: 12/21/1996 (saturday)

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OOC News

We have finished the climax of Phase 1! We’re still in the end of the fall semester, so we aren’t quite at Phase 2 yet. We’re in the eerie in between space, where reality is distorted and time is a lie, before Phase 2 comes. Or, uh, just wrapping up loose ends.

We’re also gonna take it relatively easy this IC week. While finals are on, we won’t be running anything special! We’ll set up event posts that people can run, but if you’d like to off-screen the finals, feel free.

Also, Tex will be gone March 27, 28, and 29.

Finally, Yoiko dropped Shurik. We also haven’t heard from Myf in months, so we’ll consider her characters dropped; like any dropped character, she is free to reapply!

---

Last Week…

The investigation team decided to claim the item hidden away behind the sealed door in the Tower. They discovered both a spiritual guardian, which they defeated, and an ancient ghost from the Three Kingdoms era. They found a scroll that can raise the dead there.

The next day, Otto von Schellenberg kidnapped Reina and Asmo. He stole Reina off, while Mircea made a completely inaccurate accusation: Sarah-Beth Weatherford. They verbally sparred; at the same time, Otto alerted Isabella that he kidnapped Reina. Isabella told Tristan, who spread word.

They took off to save Reina, where they discovered Otto had put Longpike to sleep. They fought with him, after negotiations quickly broke down, and things went south for him. The Masked Man revealed that he hated Otto as much as the rest of the world, for using him as a weapon; he summoned monsters to attack Paracelsus, and a behemoth that attacked Otto and them. Otto tried to force Rhys to revive Almagoras; ultimately, Riona had to kill him, after he caused immense amounts of damage, and tried to murder Val after she hurried the scroll away.

Paracelsus was badly damaged in the attack, with many buildings impacted and hit. Some students were killed, too. Michel Patisse was injured again; his luck was poor and his efforts to reinforce the PCs were stopped short by an angry winged mantis. This is not because Tex forgot to account for him before now. Not at all.

People started recovering and talking, but it’s a slow process. Also, Vanya and Cassidy discovered their room was badly damaged. Woe.

---

...This Week!

Life is attempting to return to normal. Feel free to mention serious damage to buildings and dorm rooms, or have acquaintances who were among the NPC casualties. Exams will start up, too. Monday and Tuesday are for the written exams in the classes that have them. Wednesday and Thursday have the more hands-on parts -- duels, item creation contests, and the like happen on those days.

On Friday, there will be Tower runs. This will get an event post! If you’d rather handwave -- we did just do a ton of action sequences! -- that’s fine. But, for the interested, it will work like the non-plot teams from last time: there is a puzzle, an obstacle course, and a fight challenge to overcome. Split that among the interested muns! The Masked Man won’t be making an appearance during this.

On Friday night, there is a celebration after the Tower runs finish. This will be another rooftop party, that the teachers are overlooking.

Characters will be going home on Sunday; Saturday is basically dedicated to packing and getting ready for two weeks spent home, abroad, or at the Trenton compound. There is also a memorial service on Saturday afternoon for the students who died in the attack, which is fairly well-attended.

The private funeral on Saturday night for Otto von Schellenberg only has his father and the priest, unless any PCs decide to come.

---

Weather

There’s finally a break in the weather. The blizzard is out; it’s windy and gusty, and it’s cold, but above freezing. The snow and ice have melted, and it’s actually a little bit pretty. Enjoy it, because it’s going to get seriously cold again later!

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News and Events

There is a lot of local buzz about a meteor hitting Longpike. It’s gotten to the Buffalo news stations, the ones that people at Paracelsus get. The media is repeating the story, but you can find letters to the editor in the newspaper saying that is nonsense. Also, if anyone frequents conspiracy usenet groups on the internet, they will be claiming that aliens/the government/ghosts/et cetera did it.

Releases:

• Movies: Beavis and Butt-head Do America, Scream, One Fine Day, My Fellow Americans, Ghosts of Mississippi (Friday)
• Video Games: Terranigma for the SNES… in Europe (Thursday)

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Questions or concerns? Leave a comment!

Comments

[simmertoaboil]

So between:

a) all the stress of last week, a fair amount of which isn't resolved
b) realizing that her last full semester is done, and the lead-up to the Sealing begins in earnest after LAST CHRISTMAS EVER

Lera has flipped over from stressed out to going "FUCK IT," and isn't taking exams or anything half as serious as she should. Sure, she'll be trying to study, but she wants to goof off. So if you want a sometimes inebriated, often goofy Lera to bump into your character, let me know!

I'm tentatively okay with doing a Tower run but I got that absence mentioned up there. Since I'll be at a convention, I do not anticipate any tags at all occurring then!

[calesitas]

Nayan needs to ambush Lera at some point so he can give her her Christmas present.

[simmertoaboil]

Yesss. This would be good!

[calesitas]

When's awesome for ambushing? :D

[simmertoaboil]

Hrrrm. Lera's wide open but I think has things going on Sunday. Monday sometime?

[calesitas]

Monday's good! Afternoon, maybe?

[simmertoaboil]

Works for me!

[reversedirection]

Chisaki's gonna be studying her butt off and a ball of nerves, because she doesn't internalize stress so well.

Same as Lera, re: Tower logs!

[aurosa]

Do you wanna log Cassidy dumping a gift on Chisaki sometime Saturday? :3c

[reversedirection]

Yeeees. This sounds like a plan! Could be earlier in the day, before the memorial service?

[aurosa]

Works for me!!

[calesitas]

Nayan's debating whether or not to go to Otto's funeral. He didn't really like Otto that much, but Otto was still family and he sort of feels like he should at least pay his respects to the former head of his House.

He will, however, be open for the Tower run if anyone wants to do it. (Reina, on the other hand, will not. She wouldn't be much fun to log after what just happened.)

[clawoverfist]

Surprise to me I'm in Philly. I should be back tomorrow evening.

Rhys will attend both funeral services!

He will also be asking David Trenton if he can spend the break in Russia with Lera and Vanya.

There will be Tower runs! He will be pretty focused and hope to keep his grades up with them. Rhys' written exams will go poorly. Between his arm and stress, he won't be able to finish most of them in the time allowed.

[cracklefwoosh]

AS A NOTE:

Val will have tucked the scroll into Rhys' shirt while he was carrying her so they wouldn't find it on her back at Para since she's pretty sure he's gonna insist she see a mender :x

[clawoverfist]

Thanks Val, he'll keep that safe for you.

Probably.

[cracklefwoosh]

SEE LOOK SHE STILL TRUSTS YOU

mostly

[calesitas]

Rhys is another person Nayan needs to corner to give him a Christmas present, but depending on how present Rhys is in their dorm during the week, Nayan might just leave it on Rhys' bed for him to find later.

[clawoverfist]

As avoidant as Rhys wants to be, the dorm's all he's got for sleeping. (Unless he can sneak into Hochberg's stables as tinyRhys to steal some napping space, but, well, the idea is to not make himself wildly suspicious.)

Rhys will be holed up in his room and rarely spend more time in the common area than he needs to pass through it, but Nayan could still easily corner him!

[calesitas]

Cornering will need to happen then. :D (Rhys will want this present in the event Trenton lets him go to Russia, anyway. >>)

And if Rhys tries to protest, Nayan will pout at him and insist on Christmas magic. He... may use his pulsing to shower Rhys in tinsel as a surprise tactic.

[clawoverfist]

We can log this if you like!

Try not to surprise Rhys too much Nayan. He's on edge!

[calesitas]

All logs are good logs! I can write up a start if you want!

Also, tinsel's harmless, Rhys! And shiny! :( It would be a gentle shower of tinsel.

[clawoverfist]

Excellent I am down. \o/

[calesitas]

When's good for Nayan to shower Rhys in sparkle, then?

[clawoverfist]

Anytime during the new week! Saturday is also largely free. For now. Mornings or evenings would be best. He's probably not returning to his room throughout the day.

[aurosa]

Riona's exams will dip into the Bs because of the time she'd been devoting to the Scroll Mess before the Longpike Mess and then the mental/emotional stress resulting from the Longpike Mess. But she's mostly trying to cram both to do well and not singularly focus on that stress, so outwardly she probably won't appear very troubled.

She will do the Tower run and have no need for make-up exams with Ivarrson (alas!!) I'm leaning towards off-screening it, but if you have something in mind, let me know!

She will attend the rooftop party and drink to honor the casualties of Otto and the Masked Almagoras' attack on Paracelsus. She may or may not show up to the memorial with a hangover. She'll also attend Otto's funeral for closure for herself, and explain it as being Otto's student in math classes and respecting him as a teacher. (She was a-ok with his strictness tbh.)

Cassidy will be fretting so much about the information Tristan lays on him that his performance in all exams will suffer -- but he's also a really good student so his "suffering" is also in the B range. Only his Magic and Modern Med exam will go pretty unscathed.

I am also leaning towards off-screening for him, but again, idea, lmk!

He probably won't attend the rooftop party. He will attend the student memorial because it'd look bad not to, but he won't be attending Otto's funeral (because he hasn't yet grown the steel balls necessary to do so just to send him off with a final "fuck you".)

[gnawsonbones]

Tristan's written exams will probably go about as well as they usually do. He's not a straight A kinda guy so his grades tend to vary between Cs and Bs. The other exams, and the Tower exam, he'll have to make up later.

Val, however, will do super swell in her hands-on exams by sheer force of I MUST BE A BETTER MAGE. Her written exams will get average grades probably.

Julian's exams will all go fine, though he'll wind up with Vanya during the Tower exam so we'll see how that goes :x

Unless his father tells him not to, he will be attending Otto's funeral out of respect for Schellenberg. The guy may have been a traitor or whatever but he was still an ally, even if a misguided one. :|

[doubledraculina]

Mirela's grades will slip outside of anatomy and physiology. She will also probably go to funerals because come on, she already has the outfits.

[stormapproaching]

Kate is still injured by the deadline for exams and so has to take makeups. This may lead to a Very Trenton Cram Session. She has largely recovered from the worst of her Mope but is still tired and not feeling much like getting up to her usual shenanigans right up until the Trentons leave on Saturday.

Madi is getting extra lessons because she accidentally revealed she has some mechanical talents to artifice teacher Hochberg, who being a good teacher but also kind of a dick, decided she should be immediately forced to show him just how deep the rabbit hole goes. She's had to apply a lot of her lessons recently so her overall grades go up pretty sharply.