The Chatelaine's Story

Date: Tuesday, December 31st
Time: Afternoon

The Great Hall was perhaps a hundred feet in its longest dimension, and a mere sixty on the side that the three massive doors opened into. The two tiers of balconies, where the student rooms were located, ran its length. The wide stairs that led to each tier were located on the two long sides. Wrought-iron pillars branch out under each balcony for support, like stylized trees.

Overhead, there was at least two more stories' worth of height before the Great Hall was capped by a domed roof. It was difficult to determine exactly how high it went, as it grew dark about a story after the Suns' balcony tier, and the uppermost heights were pitch black... and sprinkled with points of light. Somewhat below these 'stars' were larger glowing orbs of light, of varying sizes.

All of the illumination came from these spheres, as there were no windows in the Great Hall. Four doors were spaced along each long wall, each of the eight bearing an emblem, each a mythical creature of some kind: dragon, unicorn, griffin, phoenix, basilisk, pegasus, harpy, chimera.

On the wall between the doors leading from the two hallways was a long board, with twelve pieces of parchment neatly tacked up in a row. Each piece of parchment had a title:

Alchemical Potions
Forces of Nature
Basic Healing
Summoning
Illusion Magic
The Art of Magic
Necromancy
Self Defense
Unarmed Combat
Bladed Weapons
Blunt Weapons
Ranged Weapons

Beneath each title, the papers were currently blank.

The Chatelaine was once again standing in the center of the hall, though this time she faced the hallways from which the students would emerge, and not the massive doors through which they had originally entered.

A woman standing precisely in the center of the massive room turned as Charlotte entered. Her age and bearing certainly marked her as a likely authority figure. She waited for the girl to aproach to a conversational distance, and then said "Name?" in a brusque tone.

Past her, on the opposite side of the hall from where Charlotte entered, a group of students is clustered around a board with papers pinned to it.

"Charlotte Sanderson," repeated the woman, crisply. "Room 219, with Kennedy Liason." She handed her a key as she spoke. "Stairs are to your left. If you intend to go there now, you should hurry, as I'll be leading a tour of the Academy momentarily. If not, you may wish to turn your attention to the board behind me, where the first-year classes have been posted."

The Chatelaine eyes the gathering crowd of students with an air of disapproval... though exactly what it is that she disapproves of is unclear. Finally some tipping point is reached, whether in the number of students or the time she's waited, and she clears her throat to gather their scattered attention.

"Welcome to the Liminal Academy," she says, in a tone that is not, in fact, particularly welcoming. "We presently stand in the Great Hall. Those of you who arrived in a timely fashion will have already found your rooms. There is also common room for your House leading off of each balcony hall. We will not be visiting the common rooms as a group, as they are intended to be for the members of each respective House, but I trust you will manage to find them."

"On this level, there are eight classrooms surrounding the Great Hall. As you can see on their doors," she gestures, "they are named on a theme of mythological creatures: dragon, unicorn, griffin, phoenix, basilisk, pegasus, harpy, chimera."

"Now, if you will please follow me, we have some ground to cover." The Chatelaine sweeps forwards, the hem of her unfashionably long dress just brushing the floor. She takes the right-hand doorway of the two that lead to the two parallel hallways, and then immediately turns right, down another hall.

"The large doors to our right lead to the East Gymnasium, where the weapons classes are held. Ahead is the East Tower. You will find that the Auditorium is accessible from this level, or from one level up."

As they reach the end of the hall, she opens the door, allowing the students to see into the large circular room, with tiers of seats rising up into the shadows, as it is presently unilluminated. To the right of the door, stairs follow the outer curve of the room upwards, while to the right, a hall follows the same curve.

"Moving on," she says, and heads down the hall, "The library." Midway down the hall, she opens another door, to the left, and this time ushers them all inside. She looks to the young woman at the central desk. "Ms. Ladria," she says. "Would you be so kind as to go over the rules of the library for our new first-years?"

As everyone is filed into the Library, they can see a single...student, though a little older, walking away from the central desk, leaving the spot empty. She briskly approached a shelf, and began to climb up a precariously steep ladder. She softly mumbled to herself, apparently lost in her own train of thoughts, when she suddenly snapped her fingers, and obtained a few books from the shelves nearby, by then it was two stories up.

The ladder wobbled under her sudden movements, and the two narrow legs began to lean backwards, apparently unable to support the small lady with the books.

With a cry, she fell from the two-story height...

...and was subsequently caught by a slide of ice that had sprung up from the floor. The ladder was caught in the ice, and the student slid down to the floor, undamaged. The students could feel an immediate change in the air...as if the air was a greenhouse on the top of a very high mountain.

It was only then that she noticed the students, and more importantly, the Chatelaine.

"..."

She stared at them, a little surprised, before blinking once or twice to snap herself back into reality. She plopped her books down on a rather strangely-colored table, a bright lime green. She then, with a minor gesture of her left hand, shifted the ice so that the ladder was re-aligned to its original position. With another small gesture, the ice began to let out a strange sort of hissing noise, and a sort of fume wafted back into the air. It was only then that the air returned to its normal quality...

She let her arm go down to her side, and then folded her hands sheepishly. A small tinge of blush was on her face now, her head now a cute beet of embarrassment.

"...p-pardon me f-for my earlier actions...M-miss Chatelaine...

...I-I'm sorry y-you had to...see that, students. I am Ms. Ladria, th-the...the Art teacher...a-and...daytime L-librarian here...

...st-students here...they can...um...borrow books...from here...COPIES. N-no, copies of books (th-thanks to the Alchemy w-we havebeensograciouslyblessedwithhere)...which w-will wither by its due date...

...t-the inventory here...covers m-many subjects...concerning any...and every topic...

...i-if y-you need a specific...d-document...o-or some other kind of assistance...please ask. The library can be accessed a-at any time, d-day and night...though in cl-class hours you will need permission from a teacher.

...w-we also have closed-off study areas made f-for students...to w-work in th-their own environment.

...I-I believe...that is all...?"

She gave the Chatelaine a pleading look, as if she wanted some aid...

"...i-if any of th-the students here want to ask a question...feel free to..."