A Bunch of Lonesome Heroes

<KiruGM> It's just coming up on noon on a clear Friday at Ohtori Academy.  

<KiruGM> The leaves of the gingko and maple trees around the campus are turning golden and rusty, and this evening a chill is likely to be in the air.  It's a half day of classes today, the day before the long weekend of Autumn Holiday, when some of the students return home to visit their families. 

<KiruGM> You, however, will not be returning to your families.  You'll be staying on the campus, and the rest of the weekend is yours to do with as you like.  Almost.

<KiruGM> You do have one commitment this afternoon: a meeting of the Ohtori Academy Student Council.

<KiruGM> You've got about four hours to spend at locations around the campus, before you'll be meeting in the Tower of the school's main building.

<KiruGM> There are also many people around Ohtori you might want to meet.

* MaxFaust sits in a corner of the library, hidden behind an upside-down book, watching Tesser

* Kamiko , red-eyed, stares fiercely at the memorial plaque in Nemuro, as if daring it to disappear.

* Kseniya made sure to catch up with Issei before he left, but is currently curled up in her own room with a lavishly illustrated book of fairytales.

* Inoki_Aoi sits on the upper level of the library, writing in  moleskine notebook and occasionally pausing to look lost in thought.

To Be A Richer Man

<KiruGM> It's become customary for you all to meet outside Ohtori's tower and ride the elevator up to the student council platform, which is about a third of the way up.

<KiruGM> A few words here about the tower.

<KiruGM> It is a curious construction, rather fragile-looking, eighteen stories tall.

<KiruGM> Entering from the front, a glass dome covers the first four floors in a capacious atrium

<KiruGM> The tower is quite broad at its base, and houses a lot of classrooms and offices in its first four floors.

<KiruGM> From there it narrows, and the jutting platform from which you all weekly overlook Ohtori campus is the only thing on the sixth floor besides the elevator lobby.

<KiruGM> None of you, so far as you are all aware, have visited higher floors.

<KiruGM> Nevertheless, the elevator is slow enough that you have some time to examine one another before reaching the Student Council meeting space.

* Shimabukuro_Kamiko machine-gun taps an expensive pen on a notebook, not looking at any of her fellow council members.

* Kita_Kiyone presses her hands against the elevator-cage walls, queitly revisiting what she wound up yelling at her duel. The rumors about her and Althea's final break-down have spread around campus since. Likely full of inaccuracy and close-enough truths for discomfort.

* Kseniya_Opasnost contemplates murder, once she's sure of the target. She looks rather cheery.

<Inoki_Aoi> "What a pleasant afternoon."

I didn't want to do it

<KiruGM> It's the end of another school day at Ohtori, and the weather is warm and sunny this afternoon.

<KiruGM> You've each been meditating on what you saw the day of the party.

<KiruGM> Kseniya, you learned that your young friend Issei had been preyed upon by an older student, possibly with the permission of faculty.

<KiruGM> The rest of you were blown through a dizzying swirl of debauchery, ending when you unlocked a secret room containing the swords you had been using to duel, apparently returned to their cases after a break-in.

<KiruGM> Kita, you used a key to enter that room.  Where is that key now?

<Kita_Kiyone> I hid it my room in the dorms, in the lower drawer of my desk.

<KiruGM> And what will each of you like to do this afternoon?

<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> I believe I will gossip with Tesser about the student council and jobber duellists.

<KiruGM> Very well.  Kamiko is heading to the library to lean on Tesser.

<Kseniya_Opasnost> I will be doing an extra tutoring session with Issei, to see how he's doing in his lessons.

<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> No leaning! Tesser is my dearest heart! I haven't seen her in so long, I wanted to catch up!

<MaxFaust> Training, then library.

<MaxFaust> LOUD then quiet.

<Inoki_Aoi> Aoi will be in the library, reading Horace's "Odes"

<KiruGM> Kseniya and Max are catching up on some studying.  Yes.

<Kita_Kiyone> I'll most likely be training on the track field for the afternoon, and keeping an eye on the gate into the forest.

<KiruGM> Right!

<KiruGM> Kiyone and Max will head to their athletics, and perhaps join others later.

<KiruGM> Kamiko and Aoi are heading to Abrasax library.

<KiruGM> Kseniya, are you thinking of studying at the library, or in Valpurgis Labs?

<KiruGM> or perhaps out on the lawn or in the garden, since it's so nice

<KiruGM> Tutoring, I should say.

<Kseniya_Opasnost> Out in the garden, since it's such a nice day.

<KiruGM> Lovely.

<KiruGM> We'll begin at the library!

Prospero, part 2

Part 1

<KiruGM> This is certainly a nice room!
<KiruGM> It's done up like a Viennese coffee house, dim and dark wood-paneled, with pine green wallpaper.
<KiruGM> Jiko, Echiko, and Aiko are sitting on the floor next to some plush chairs and about 30 red cups.
<Kita_Kiyone> "Oh, hello!"
   * Aiko burps
<Jiko> "Helloooo!  Hey, it's you!"
<Echiko> "Tell him!"
   * Echiko punches Jiko
<Jiko> "I don't even think it's a good idea!  She's married to the minotaur thing now."
   * Echiko giggles
<Jiko> "I mean labyrinth thing."
<Echiko> "We're not gonna do that anymore!  That's the surprise!"
<Jiko> "YES WE ARE."
<Echiko> "We're gonna do a whole new play, an interactive one.  You can be in it!"
<Kita_Kiyone> "I can? Doesn't the theatre club have enough members?"
<Jiko> "We don't even need that many actors, just two."
<Aiko> "I don't like it!"
<Echiko> "Of course you don't."
<Aiko> "I think there should be a love story.
<Kita_Kiyone> "So, alright, two actors, new story, why don't you tell me about it?"

Prospero, part 1

<KiruGM> Good evening.
<KiruGM> The sun has set, and it looks like the cooler air is presaging one of Ohtori's spring storms.
<KiruGM> Most of the party is gathered outside the Ohtori Gallery, in preparation for one of Chuck's parties.
<KiruGM> Kamiko, you've been to several of these.  The rest of you have barely even considered it, since it's common knowledge that anyone but seniors will be chased out of the Ohtori Gallery immediately.

Daedalus

<KiruGM>    As is quickly becoming usual, you're at your biweekly Student Council Meeting.
*    Shimabukuro_Kamiko looks up and goes quiet as Aoi and Faust enter.
<KiruGM>    Would you each like to report on your thoughts on the School Betterment Project the Council has been tasked with?
*    Shimabukuro_Kamiko stands up and smoothes her skirt.
<KiruGM>    Kamiko, you looked into the ruins of Nemuro Memorial Hall last time.
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko>    "It is my pleasure to report that we are moving ahead steadily in the razing of Nemuro Hall. I have spoken with the segment of the student body currently... utilizing... the space, and we have come to an agreement that I believe puts them in our corner."
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko>    "I have some plans for a conservatory to be constructed at the site, but I am open to further suggestions for replacement buildings."
*    Inoki_Aoi clears his throat.
<Shimabukuro_Kamiko>    "Yes, Inoki-san?"
<Inoki_Aoi>    "If a new library were constructed at the site, it would allow the books from the current one to be moved to it so that full-scale construction could be employed to fix the shifting foundations, while not disrupting the studies of students making use of the library."
*    MaxFaust stands up
<MaxFaust>    "The current one has a big hole in it. It should be fixed."
*    MaxFaust sits down
*    KiruGM nods
<KiruGM>    All very admirable.
<KiruGM>    Kiyone, you haven't yet looked into an area on campus which might be Bettered.
<KiruGM>    Would you like to look into that today, or do you have other plans for the afternoon?
<Kita_Kiyone>    "Yes, I'm sorry for that, Kurouto-sempai. I had other club activities come up. I'd like to look into the Rose Croix."

The Overlook

<KiruGM> You're standing up on the tower platform, overlooking the school grounds.

<KiruGM> You now attend biweekly meetings of Ohtori's Student Council.

<KiruGM> The theme of this week's meeting is Bettering Our School.

<KiruGM> As you look out, you can see the various buildings where students congregate.  Now that your Student Council position has given you the freedom to roam wherever you like in the school, maybe it's time you checked some of them out, to discover how they can be Bettered.

<KiruGM> Please peruse the various sites you can view from the tower and decide which you would like to visit.

* Shimabukuro_Kamiko sighs as she leans out over the balcony railing. "I still say Nemuro is an eyesore, and we should pressure the headmaster to have it razed."

<Inoki_Aoi> "I suppose if one was going to make the school Better, the burnt-out ruins would be a logical place to start."

* Kseniya_Opasnost glances over at the ruins. "It's so romantic, though. And it's not as if anyone lives inside that place."

<Kseniya_Opasnost> "I do wonder about the labs, though. They seem like a fire hazard every time I go in there, and some of the younger students get lost."

<Kurouto_Demi> "Yes, Kseniya.  They are also not in keeping with Ohtori's aesthetic, generally."

<Shimabukuro_Kamiko> "If their spatial senses are that poor, perhaps they shouldn't be studying math and science at Ohtori."

<MaxFaust> "No-one studies anything."

<MaxFaust> "They just come and go."

Ohtori Locations

Ohtori Academy

Himemiya Memorial Garden

This outdoor garden commemorates a former deputy chairman who died at the school.  According to student rumor, the Rijichou was murdered by his sister and buried under the rose garden, though this seems highly unlikely.  Probably adding to these flights of fancy are the numerous cross-shaped wooden arbors incorporated into the design.


Nemuro Conservatory

One of several Ohtori garden spaces dedicated to the memory of students, this one commemorates those former Ohtori alumni who have fallen in war.  A popular site for a romantic outing among the student body.


Ohtori Gallery

Originally a chateau housing the Ohtori family.  Now filled with their paintings and antiques, as well as curiosities collected by the school for students' edification.  Dark whispers swirl among the students about whether some of the paintings contain nudity.


Rose Croix Theatre

The Academy's theatre and music building.  The RCT features three stages and a band shell, as well as  a system of underground tunnels which, like all such structures, is said to be haunted.

Valpurgis Laboratory

Constructed hastily from wood and tile in the flurry of nationalism which swept over Japan in the 1930s, the VL building is a rickety-looking maze of rooms housing the school's math and science departments.  All rooms, including offices, are fully served with gas lines for all students' science needs.

Benevento Field

The Academy's sports field, surrounded by its racetrack, site of most of Ohtori's outdoor activities.  A few trees dot the rims, and the grass is scrupulously maintained.  The majority of students eat their lunches here when the weather is suitable.  Ringed by Greco-roman statuary and many fountains.  

Abrasax Library

One of the grandest buildings on campus, the AL is under continuous restoration because of an instability in its foundation.  In spite of this, it is generally considered a peaceful haven for study and reflection.  Open 24 hours.  

Plotting A Locus

All of you are teenage students at the prestigious Ohtori Academy, a private boarding school for youngsters who are gifted in one way or another.  As we open, it's an absolutely gorgeous sunny afternoon on the campus, which is set high on a hill overlooking a small Japanese seaside town.

Welcome to Ohtori Academy!