Degrees of Horror, ETU x CoC IC

[big teej]

Printed on East Texas University Official Letterhead, received prior to the events of the game...

Office of the Dean
1 Raven's Loop
Pinebox, TX


Dear Student,

Welcome, and congratulations on your acceptance as an incoming Freshman student at East Texas University. I would like to take this opportunity to direct you to the information that will make your transition to ETU as smooth as possible.

First, I would like to remind you that all Freshmen and Sophomores are required to live in on-campus housing. This both ensures your safety and helps you build friendships that will undoubtedly last a lifetime. Go to FightingRavens.com (http://fightingravens.com/) to fill out your dorm application and submit your deposit.

Next, I would like to remind you that Freshman orientation, which we call Sweat Lodge, coincides with dorm check-in on the third weekend in August. Please plan to attend one of the sessions on Thursday, Friday, or Saturday evening. At Sweat Lodge you'll learn about the importance of campus safety, our university traditions and fight song, the Raven's Honor Code, and advice from Seniors. The Saturday night Sweat Lodge ends with free pizza and a show by local rockers A Jury of Robots.

Again, let me congratulate you on your first step into a larger world. College is what you make of it, and an acceptance to ETU is a great start!

Go Ravens!

President James Nelson



Welcome to East Texas University. Now that you've settled into your dorm, it's time to get your bearings. At ETU they call Freshman orientation the Sweat Lodge. Your dorm Resident Assistant spouted some stuff about how the Native American sweat lodges were considered places of rebirth that provided important revelations. At least the letter said there'd be food and music.

You'd say this building has seen better days, but in this case probably not. The Ravens Roost Multi-use Indoor Arena - the basketball arena - is an ugly, gray, windowless, round building, like a giant WWII pillbox without the firing slits. Despite some creative decorating inside the arena, the building still shows its age. From peeling paint to vacant fire extinguisher racks to struggling air conditioning, it's no wonder the campus tour guide skipped this building.


You are seated among the other freshman in the stands surrounding the basketball court while President Nelson drones on about campus safety, parking in designated areas, campus traditions, and the like.

ooc: Please introduce your character, place yourself somewhere amongst the crowd and tell us how you're responding to the freshman orientation drudgery and roll Spot Hidden.

[TerrickTerran]

Alexis sighed and tried not to feel too nervous. She hated these sorts of things. She did not like crowds when she was not performing. She hated the loud volume of everyone chattering before the event started and was bored by the droning words. She would do anything to get out of there but she was stuck for the time being. She started to twirl her hair a bit as she hoped this would soon be over.

https://orokos.com/roll/798727

[Jaryn]

Matt Walker presses himself into a corner of the stands, looking out at the crowds. He is dressed in grey jeans and a black hoodie, and despite the warm temperature indoors he has the hood pulled up so that it's harder to see the burn scars on his face.

His eyes scan rapidly over the crowd, occasionally flicking back to President Nelson. He is bored. He expected university to be more exciting than this, although he hopes that things will pick up once actual classes start. This is just something to be endured.

He wonders briefly if he will get to know any of these people; if they will become friends. It's not always been the easiest thing for him to do, to reach out and be social, but he is determined to try.

"Go Ravens!" Matt's attention returns to Nelson and he rolls his eyes. If there's one thing that he really finds ridiculous is the artificial pep that revolves around mascots and sports teams. He enjoys sport as much as the next person, but to see the President standing there acting like a cheerleader... To his mind it was crazy.

Spot hidden (https://orokos.com/roll/798702): 1d100 18

[Tentreto]

Rowan sits with a few of the other international students, trying to get to know them while the President drones one. He had already gotten to know an Australian, but it was too early to know much. He runs his hand through his hair every few minutes, partly out of habit, partly to stay awake in the court. He hadn't even had the opportunity to visit the University before he made the trip, and was already regretting it.

He does skirt the crowd, looking for any eccentric's or possible fellow Brits in exile, but for the most part shares looks with those around him about the monotone of President Nelson, smirking and muttering quips under his breath.

If nothing else, he'd been to worse. At least there would be food, and possibly decent music.

93 (https://orokos.com/roll/798725)

[InTheMachine]

Skylar places her hand on her chin with a sigh. She'd tried to get excited for orientation (you only do it once, you know) and after the president had started his speech, she'd felt all of her enthusiasm... drain out of her.

She rubs her free hand over her jeans, then straightens the lacy white shirt she's wearing. She couldn't wait to back to her dorm room for some much needed sleep. Even though she didn't need to be up at four in the morning for her normal farm chores, her body still wanted to out there caring for family's animals. She hadn't been able to get back to sleep.

Spot Hidden (https://orokos.com/roll/798860): 40

[big teej]

Finally, Nelson seems to be wrapping up.

"In conclusion, your time here at ETU has the potential to be among the best days of your life. Don't just survive college, but make the most of your opportunities here. Now, before we break into our Senior-led groups, let's all practice the ETU Ravens fight song!"

The fight song words are flashed on a giant video screen behind the president, and slowly the crowd picks up the tune.


Ravens Fiiiiight
Ravens Fiiiiight
Put on the black and whiiiiite
Ravens Fiiiiight
Ravens Fiiiiight
Our team will own the niiiiight
Fear the Fightin' Ravens
Our mighty team does sooooooar
Fear the Fightin' Ravens,
When we make another scoooooore.


With the conclusion of the fight song, President Nelson punctuates with another "Go Ravens" and then announces, "Now, for the part you've been waiting for. While the band and food folks set up here on the gym floor, you'll break up into groups for a final, time-honored Sweat Lodge tradition. You'll be meeting away from the eyes and ears of faculty with a Senior who will pass along the best advice from four years of life here at ETU. Or in some cases five or six years. Now, on the bottom of each of your chairs is taped a location here in the building where you'll meet with your Senior. By the time you're done we'll have food and music ready to go, so let's get moving!"


Your wandering eye spies a woman in a professional attire - an admin who's name you didn't catch, is having a conniption with some janitors. She gesticulates angrily, and keeps pointing at the arena walls, where school slogans, the ETU Mascot, and various graffiti glyphs have been painted.


Checking under your seat, you find a note card with the number "12" printed on it. Along with a basic set of instructions to Room 12, a meeting room in the basement.

Making your way into the dimly lit hallways of the basement level, you follow the placards and hallway signs to room 12. In the last hallway, you see a man in a security guard's uniform unlocking a door marked Physical Engineering Control. Private. The man jumps at the sound of your groups approach. He swings the door open and enters, closing it behind him with a slam that echoes up the hallway. You can hear the solid 'clunk' of the door being re-locked as you pass by. In the brief moment the door was open, you could see a stack of fire extinguishers inside the dark room.

Once inside Room 12, you find a meandering group of other students and a single folding table with a 2 liter of soda next to a slushy bowl of what was probably ice, some red plastic cups, and a single bowl of chips. The four of you are joined by a 3 other students. One is a rail-thin young man with a mohawk and standard punk gear. Another is a mousy brunette with a messenger bag slung over one shoulder, and the last is an uptight looking guy in a suit, eyeing everyone else's much more casual attire with a growing sense of unease.


Well, here's your chance to actually introduce your characters to each other and/or these npcs
Also, Everyone mark a successful use of Spot Hidden for seeing the Fire Extinguishers (I rolled for you)

[Jaryn]

Matt looks around at the other people in the room and sighs inwardly. In this small space there is no point keeping his hood up, so he lowers it as he moves towards the centre of the room to get himself a soda and a few crisps.

Taking a sip, he moves back towards the edge of the room and finds himself standing next to Rowan. Matt turns awkwardly. "Hey."

There is a pause as he tries to think of something else to say. Conversation with strangers has never been his strong point. "I'm Matt. And you are...?"

[TerrickTerran]

Alexis smiled sweetly as she sat in the corner quietly. Hopefully with any luck no one would try to talk to her. She was glad it wasn't too many people but forced chatting was one of her least favorite things. She wanted to finish with this and hopefully go back to her room and do some musical stuff. She was prepared though with a few curt answers if someone did decide to talk.

[Tentreto]

Rowan eyes all the other around him. So a Punk, a Suit, and a Geek among others. It was certainly a good spread. He wondered whether the Uni had split them up enough to try and get some of this to happen.

He watches the guy in the hoodie be surprisingly the first to talk, and move in to the supplies.

"Heya," he says back, jovially. "I'm Rowan, good to see you. What course you in?" He walks over, and grabs a crisp, and tosses it into his mouth, returning to the conversation.

He carefully looks around the others in the room as he walks to and from the table, trying to encourage one of them to talk up next.

[Jaryn]

Matt looks down at his feet as Rowan comes back. "Umm... Computer science. You?"

He eats a crisp. The sound seems overwhelmingly loud to him, although his rational brain knows that's just his insecurities talking.

[Tentreto]

Rowan habitually runs his hand through his hair. "I'm in the art course," he says, slightly sheepishly, "but hoping to take a few extra modules elsewhere. Have to see how it all is first." he reaches out and eats another crisp himself, eating half of this one.

Mark seemed nervous, but not a bad guy at least. It also helped to know someone who was computer savvy, so that was something else he supposed.

[InTheMachine]

Skyler sheepishly enters room 12, a bit late since since she'd gotten caught up speaking to a friend from high school that she'd spotted in the gym. "Howdy ya'll. Hope I'm not too late for this thing," she says with a small smile.

She takes a seat next to brunette with the messenger bag, reading the... somewhat awkward air in the room. She knew no one really like ice breakers, but unfortunately, they were stuck in one for now. "How's everybody tonight? My name's Skylar Faust, I'm majoring in Zoology. Is anyone else here in anything like that?"

[Jaryn]

Matt takes one look at Skyler and immediately turns bright red before looking away again without answering.

As people slowly begin to chat he nods at Rowan and makes his way over to the punk. "Hey. How're you doing? Time to get the obligatory 'what are you studying?' question out the way!"

He is starting to relax a little. It seems like an interesting mix of people and he finds himself wondering what's brought each of them to ETU.

[big teej]

Matt:

"Wasup?" The punker offers when you walk over. He sniggers at your question before answering "The name's Jack" he says with a big toothy smile. "Right now I'm double majored in journalism and Poly-sci... If I come to my senses before I graduate, I'll switch to kinesiology."

Party:

A tall, skinny man opens the door and steps inside. He looks around at everyone and adjusts his glasses. "Uh, hey everybody. I'm, uh. Robert Niles, you can call me Robby, I'm the senior for y'all's group to talk about, uh... the lessons I've learned here... I guess?"

He looks around and shifts his weight from one leg to the other before shrugging and saying "Look, I wasn't really given any guidance on what the heck I'm supposed to tell you guys, so do you have any questions for me? cause I've only really got one thing you need to know, and it can wait til I've answered." He bobs his head vigorously, agreeing with his own, rushed sentiment.

Jack nudges Matt with an elbow and gives a "watch this" look. "So, uh Robby, you've had four or five years to figure it out, yeah? Where are the best parties? ya know?"

Robby frowns and looks down at his feet and shuffles a bit before shrugging and looking not quite back at Jack. "I'm uh, well, I spent most of my time studying and at the library, I only got dragged to one or two parties as a freshman... one of them was right after sweat lodge. I guess, uh, alotta stuff happens out in Greek housing? I'm not really the person to ask."

Jack chuckles again.

The guy in the suit flatly states his question in a mild eastern accent before anyone else can ask one. "How long are we required to stay at this... Sweat Lodge before we return to our dormitories?"

Robby answers much more assuredly this time. "I'm pretty sure you can leave as soon as we get called back upstairs to the main floor."

[TerrickTerran]

Alexis was satisfied in that the others were talking to each other and not bothering her. Now she just had to wait for this sweat lodge stuff to end. At least it was not too crowded in here. She might even be able to relax if most of the time this was the amount of people with which she had to deal. She started to hum a bit a song she was creating.

[Tentreto]

Skylar

Rowan shakes his head. "Don't worry about being late," he says calmly, "we haven't really gotten started anyway. I'm Rowan by the way."

Party

Rowan folds his arms and speaks up. "Any interesting societies here? I've didn't find much information on what clubs you guys had over here other than the basketball." He quite obviously rolls his eyes as he says basketball.

It was obvious that a lot of the group was still a bit nervous, including the senior, but Rowan didn't mind to much at the moment. It was good to hear there was going to be a big party after this, and he was already looking forward to getting plastered.

[Jaryn]

Matt smiles politely as Jack asks his questions. He suspects he probably won't be invited to join him at any parties. As Rowan asks about societies, though, he finds himself nodding in appreciation - that is definitely something he is interested in.

"Yeah I've got a question" he says to Robby, joining in. "What are the best and worst things about being here in your opinion?"

A humming catches his attention, and he looks sidewise at where it's coming from. One of the girls in the corner seems totally uninterested in anything, and is humming away. It makes him smile reflexively, as it's a feeling he remembers from high school.

[big teej]

Rowan:

Robby considers your question, mumbling "Societies?" to himself, brow furrowed. He looks at you, "You mean, like, Greek Stuff? Yeah, a whole section of the campus is dedicated to Frat and sorority chapter houses and stuff. Greek Row." Robby pauses, scratching at his shoulder before he continues "if you just mean, uh, like clubs and organizations and stuff. There's tons-a stuff. There's a big event a couple of weeks into each semester that's like, a sorta half-festival, half non-frat rush, ya know? like they set up a buncha tables in The Roost and in the quad and stuff and every organization has like pamphlets and stuff. ETU's got all kinda stuff people use to pad out their transcripts and resumes..."

Matt:

Robby frowns at your question, "Well, I..." he clears his throat "I really think ETU offers an, uh, excellent opportunity to grow and find yourself. and uh." His delivery sounds 'put-on' sort of imitating President Nelson upstairs. He sort of trails off, seeming to think about how to better answer, but then pivots toward the mousy looking girl when she raises her hand to ask a question.

Party:

"So, uhm, I'm sure this is silly." The girl starts in an airy voice, "But, uhm. I heard some weird stuff from some of the girls on my hall. Like some kinda giant porcupine or something that lives in the woods around campus?" She stops and blinks "Oh, I'm, uhm, I'm Laura, by the way." she clears her throat "so, uh, yeah, what's up with that?"

Robby nods and clears his throat. "They must've been talking about The Needler, the local boogieman, bigfoot, chupa-thingy, it's just a stupid rumor used to scare freshman. Yeah."

Robby holds up a hand to forestall any further questions on the topic "Okay, Okay, I think... we're almost done here, so I want to share the most important piece of advice I have for your time here." He takes a deep breath and presses his palms together in front of his chest, considering his words.

"Be a Zebra.
Haven't you watched the animal shows on TV? Zebras survive because they blend in and don't draw attention to themselves. They stick close together, because the lions pick off the ones who stray too far from the herd. Individuality is over-rated! If you want to survive at ETU, you'd better learn to think like a Zebra."

He nods, seemingly to himself, satisfied with this great font of wisdom. He strides over to the refreshment table and busies himself with very deliberately pouring himself a soda.


You hear a crashing sound from the hallway
mark Listen as used

Jack looks ready to try and push Robby's buttons some more when he tilts his head and says "Did you guys hear that?" and takes a few steps toward the door.

"No, I didn't hear anything." Laura says, at Jack with a frown.

Robby flinches at Jack's pronouncement and stage whispers "sure, ignore the senior's advice, don't be a zebra."

The kid in the suit, who still hasn't introduced himself, advances on Robby and begins asking him a long stream of questions in a low voice.

[Jaryn]

A look of disbelief crosses Matt's face at Robby's great revelation. Seriously?, he thinks. I thought you had to survive high school, not university.

His thoughts are interrupted by Jack's question as he moves away. He didn't hear anything himself and was prepared to discount it, but when Robby mutters about people ignoring his advice a flash of irritation begins to surface.

"I didn't - what was it? Do you wanna go and have a look?"

With a withering look at the senior, he moves a few paces after Jack.

[Tentreto]

Rowan nods at Robby's talk on societies. He was a bit annoyed it wasn't happening sooner, but at least it was something. He honestly had little interest in the Greek stuff, just the clubs.

At Robby's warning, Rowan just looks back at him with a dead stare. Seriously? He had travelled half way across the world and was told 'don't try and be different?' Dear God, he wondered how much of a shut in Robby had to be, or how terrible the Uni for that to be the greatest piece of advice. So much for the good atmosphere.

Hearing what Jack said, Rowan turns, and looks at the door. He hadn't heard anything, but if it was an attempt to try and ease the tension, he'd be fine with it. He thought about pushing Robby for what these 'lions' were, but decided against it for now. He wasn't going to burn his bridges yet. For now he looks towards the door, standing where he is.

[TerrickTerran]

Not quite knowing what to say Alexis mumbled an excuse me to no one in particular as she stood up and left the room. She was not quite sure what the noise was and even less why she felt the need to check it out but then again someone could be hurt and it would be cruel not to help if she was able to do so. She passed through the door and hurried off towards what she had heard.

[Jaryn]

Matt watches for a second as Alexis leaves the room, then turns to face everyone.

"Anyone else fancy not being a zebra?"

With that he turns and walks out of the door, hurrying after Alexis. "Hey! Wait up!"

[InTheMachine]

At Matt's declaration, Skylar nods. She wasn't in the mood to be a prey species, and hurt more than a little bit to be told by a senior that you would be better off keeping your head down on her first day. College was supposed to be a time for learning a growth as a person; you couldn't do that by going with the flow.

She also makes a move to follow Alexis and Matt.

[big teej]

Party:

You exit Room 12 to find a man in a security form - Tyson August by the nameplate on his chest - standing over a very expensive looking, very destroyed looking video recorder. His hands are planted on his hips and he's mumbling to himself. He then notices you all pouring out of the room.

He takes a step away from the destroyed equipment and toward all of you. "Hey, did you guys see anything about what happened here? I was round the bend and heard the crash." He narrows his eyes at you. "y'all didn't have anybody... come in late, didja?"

[Jaryn]

Matt frowns. "Well... The latest person to come in was the Senior, Robby, but he was definitely in the room when the noise happened."

He looks around the room, thinking, and trying to see if there are any traces of identification left on the scene.

[Tentreto]

Rowan, hearing the conversation, walks on over to the door. "Well, better stay with the herd." he quips over his shoulder to Robby, as he heads out.

Rowan shakes his head at the security guard. "Nope, nothing. Did you hear somebody run off?" he asks, curious.

Rowan focuses at looking at the recorder itself, wondering how on earth it got in this state in the first place.

[big teej]

The security guard scratches at his hairline and adjusts his hat. "Well. Probably some seniors sneaking about, probably the same vandals who've sketched up all this graffiti." He sighs heavily. "Y'all stay safe now, I'm gonna go look around and see if anybody else is nearby." and with that, the security guard walks off, quickly enveloped by the shadows in the dimly lit corridor.

His footsteps haven't completely faded away when two men, one middle aged, the other about grad-student aged, round the corner and stop, seeing all of you and the camera. The older man is dressed business casual, while his younger associate is dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. "Well, that's a bummer." The student says, turning to the other.

"Maybe, but it could be promising if..." The older man trails off before advancing on the broken equipment. "I don't suppose any of you saw what happened? maybe were standing nearby or walking through here when this happened? did you feel any chills or unease? Anything unusual at all?" He sounds excited, and a notepad and pencil appear in his hand.

"Uh, Doc. I think they're down here for Sweat Lodge." The grad-student clears his throat. "Oh. Right." The Professor turns back to you and extends a hand. "I'm Professor Glen Maclanahan, but you can call me GlenMac, it's less of a mouthful." He gestures to the grad-student. "And this is Jackson Green, my assistant." Jackson does his best to catch Skylar and Alexis' eyes and throw them a flirtatious wink.

"What's all this stuff for?" Jack The Punk asks.

Glenmac rubs his hands together excitedly and turns back to the pile of camera equipment. "Well, it was a specialized camera used to record ghosts. Oh, and uh, sorry for the barrage of questions, I didn't think you guys had messed with the camera, I was hoping maybe the ghost did... instead of maybe the tripod failing like last time." Glenmac shoots a look at his assistant.

Jackson points back at the doctor "You set up the cameras last time."

As the professor and assistant work to gather up the equipment, a pair of janitors pass by you down the adjacent corridor carrying buckets of water and sponges and griping about having to clean up graffiti right away instead of in the morning.

[Jaryn]

Matt blinks. "Ghosts? Like, is that a subject here? And you said 'the' ghost - are you after one specifically?"

He checks himself, deciding not to go down the rabbit hole just yet.

"Sorry, where are my manners? I'm Matt. Pleased to meet you Glenmac, Jackson. And yeah, we're here for Sweat Lodge - a couple of people heard the noise of the camera falling over so we came to see what was going on. Although... this does sound a lot more interesting than everything else so far..."

[Tentreto]

Rowan observes both the professor and his assistant. That was...surprisingly early for a professor to set something up.

"Did the footage survive at least?" he says diplomatically. He was honestly surprised there was a ghost hunting club or something here, but at least it was novel.

[TerrickTerran]

At the mention of ghost hunting, Alexis perked up a bit. She was not sure what she thought about it but anything that dealt with the occult interested her at least a bit. "Ghost hunting that sounds kind of fun. Is it a large group and are there any rules to join it?"

[big teej]

Party:

"Nice to meet you, Matt," Glennmac says, "Ghosts are something of uh..." The pair share a look. "Extracurricular interest of ours. As for the ghost, stories about it go back a few decades, I'm afraid there aren't any consistent details except it's supposed to look like a young woman and is most often sighted in here, the basement." He finishes with a gesture.

Jackson sighs, nostalgic. "I remember my Sweat Lodge. One of the frats spiked the punch, and locked the faculty outside with the help of a few firecrackers..." He shakes his head. "top 3 parties while I was a student." He shakes himself from his reverie and adjusts his hat, turning toward Rowan. "Probably, the SD card looks intact, but we won't know til we play it back in the office."

Jackson and Glennmac share another look (they do that a lot) at Alexis' question. "It's really just the two of us, occasionally we rope in a few other students for grunt work or to pad their extracurriculars, we'd be glad for the help." Jackson says.

GlenMac nods in aggreement "And I'd love to talk with anyone who's interested later. but for now---" On cue, a power chord echoes through the halls, muted by the earth and concrete above you, and the ground throbs slightly with bass. "--- you all have a party to get to. You can find my office in the anthropology building. If you don't have time to come find me during the first few weeks, don't sweat it."

Jack rubs his hands together, looking at Jackson. "You said Sweat Lodge was one of the biggest parties?"

Jackson shrugs and smiles. "Yeah, back when I did it. But they kinda cracked down on it after the chaperones got locked out that year. But hey, free pizza is free pizza, right?"

The mohawked punker turns to the rest of you. "Well then what are we waiting for huh? Let's go!" He laughs and takes Laura by the arm and guides her back toward the entrance to the arena floor. "Come on, come on, come on." he says. Laura's surprise cautiously gives way to excitement written on her face. "You know... I never really partied in high school, even when my parents were out." Jack nods again enthusiastically. "yeah, that's the spirit." He clears his throat theatrically. "Come on Y'all" He says with a greatly affected (or maybe afflicted) southern drawl.

Robby and the un-introduced student-in-a-suit emerge from Room 12. "No, really, you should go. no it's not mandatory. but it's a thing, we're...supposed to do." Robby is not quite shoving the suit away.

[InTheMachine]

Skylar grins at the music filtering through the ceiling. "Now that does sound like a party. Y'all think they got a real band to play?"

[Jaryn]

Matt makes a mental note to see if anyone fancies checking out the basement later, before answering Skylar.

"Err... Dunno. I haven't exactly been to many parties. Any pointers?"

He takes a deep breath in and then exhales, worry about the upcoming social situation warring with the desire to cut loose and relax, and a sliver of hope that things might be OK.

[TerrickTerran]

Alexis hated parties even though she loved music. Too loud and too many people talking caused concern. However, she did like the sounds of the music and she was a bit hungry. "All right, I'm in. Let's go to this party."

[Tentreto]

Rowan shrugs towards Matt. "Just stay out of the mosh pit and it will be fine. We should probably get there before the food goes. I wouldn't be surprised if they run out."

He honestly had no real interest in ghosts or anything, but hey, maybe he could convince some people to go down into it later in the night? That might be worth a shout.

[Jaryn]

Matt looks at them all. "All right. Let's do this!"

[big teej]

Party:

Your group makes its way through the basement corridors, joining a steady trickle and then a torrent of other students heading back to the basketball court and the promise of live music, free pizza, and limited adult supervision.

Eventually, you're spat out from the river of bodies onto the auditorium floor. At the far end of the court the band, A Jury of Robots, is playing. At half-court, and extending down to the near side, are tables piled with punch-bowls, chips, dips, and various other finger foods and boxes and boxes and boxes of pizza, with more being brought out by staff members to replace the empties.

A pair of ETU Security Guards stands by the main entrance, and most of the administrators and professors seem to have left, Though you can see a few huddled about in twos and threes, making sure things don't get too crazy.

Jack whoops in excitement and tugs Laura off into the crowd, angling between the pizzas and the stage. Robby and the suit gravitate toward the corner once they're free of the press.

[Jaryn]

"I don't know about you guys, but I think I'm going to head towards the pizza" Matt says as they come in. "By the way - this is probably going to make me sound completely stupid, but what the hell - does anybody fancy checking out the basement later? Just as a bit of a laugh?"

[Tentreto]

Rowan nods and smiles. Maybe a bit earlier than he wanted, but at least it gave him a head start.

"Sure. Might be nice to get out of here when things start to unwind." he replies, as he starts to help the others get through the press, using his size to help make a path through. Rowan himself heads over to the food tables, intent on grabbing a box.

[TerrickTerran]

"Food's good." Alexis murmured and started to follow. She felt safer being with the group. The noise was loud and not to her taste but at least she was out doing stuff. That way mom couldn't complain even if she couldn't see that her daughter was actually doing stuff with others.

[InTheMachine]

"By the way - this is probably going to make me sound completely stupid, but what the hell - does anybody fancy checking out the basement later? Just as a bit of a laugh?"

"Feeling adventurous, are we?" Skylar replies with a smirk. "Who knows, we might find the terrifying ghostie that messed with GlenMac's camera. I'm in."

[big teej]

Party:

The Pizza all seems to be from a local joint, 'The Pizza Barn' every combination of toppings, crust thickness, and cheeziness is available after sorting through a few boxes... the amount of grease is non-negotiable. Conversation is difficult over the roar of the band.


You see an attractive blonde in jeans and an ETU shirt on the edge of the mob. She locks eyes with you and smiles and gestures for you to come to her. She half turns as she does, seeming to angle toward one of the passages to the basement level.

[Tentreto]

Rowan blinks, and somewhat surprised, begins heading towards what he had seen. He turns quickly to the others. "Excuse me a second, apparently, someone has taken an interest in me." He raises an eyebrow and nods his head towards one of the passages. With that, he gets up and begins to head over.

Honestly, it was too early for this kind of thing. He had next to no interest in pulling this early in the night, but he might as well humour them.

[Jaryn]

Matt shakes his head, wondering how some people just attract attention like that.

He spends some time chewing on the pizza and chatting to Alexis and Skylar, getting over his initial shyness. He talks a bit about Texas, being a native to the state, and about some of the things that interest him - swimming and computers mostly. Despite his interest in the occult, he doesn't want to come across as a complete weirdo straight away, although he does mention how he's interested ghosts and things of that nature.

"What about you two? What interests you outside academia?" he yells over the music.

[TerrickTerran]

"Music but softer than this. More jazz or soft rock than this. I also like history and reading in general. How about you? What do you like?" Alexis was a bit jealous of someone getting a chance to get out of here while she had a slice of sausage pizza.

[Jaryn]

"Soft rock's good. Jazz - not really my thing. But definitely quieter!"

Matt is starting to feel a little tired from having to shout to be heard. He looks around briefly, weighing up dancing versus exploring while everyone is busy...

[big teej]

Rowan:

The blonde smiles brightly as you approach and angles to meet you at the entrance to the side passage. She takes hold of your hand and pulls you further into the passageway. As soon as casual conversation can be had over the band she looks at you over her shoulder and says "Hey, my name's Nina. It's good to meet you---?" She trails off, waiting for your name.

[InTheMachine]

Skylar finds a meat-lovers pizza and begins to chow down. "I'm from Texas too; Amarillo. Well, outside of Amarillo. I spend most of my free time on my family's farm. I barrel race when they're in town. Hunt and fish too." She blushes. "I'm a country girl through and through. Though I do like to read and write a little when I have the time."

[TerrickTerran]

"Three Texans here, in fact I think the only one not from Texas is the one who wandered off. Barrel racing sounds fun. Not too fond of hunting but fishing is relaxing."

[Tentreto]

"Rowan," he answers, still a bit confused. "Good to meet you Nina, you a local?" he asks, calmly. He doesn't mind too much if he is pulled a bit further away, but the further away the go, the more resistance he gives.

[big teej]

Rowan:

Nina is quiet for a moment, "Something like that." She says with a chuckle. She's angling toward a partially open door to a darkened room off the hallway. She pulls at your hand insistently, but not aggressively.

You feel a chill pass through you.

[Jaryn]

Matt laughs. "I've not done much fishing - I tend to be in the water myself. Mind y'all don't catch me!"

He takes a breath, getting ready for the next high volume blast of speech. "Look, it's really loud in here. How about we grab some pizza and find somewhere a bit quieter? We can come back to dance or whatever in a while?"

[TerrickTerran]

Alexis nodded. "Sounds good to me. I think my eardrums are about to shatter anyways and I can barely move." She grabbed two more slices of pizza and a couple cans of soda. "I'm ready to go."

[Tentreto]

Rowan gives an involuntary shiver and doesn't move for now.

"Nina," he says cautiously, "Why'd you grab me? You trying to set a new campus record or something?" he jokes, half-heartedly.

[InTheMachine]

Skylar laughs a little at Matt's joke, then grabs a soda. "I'm with ya'll. The music's a bit too loud for me."

[Jaryn]

Matt grabs another slice of pizza and a soda to go with it, and starts moving through the crowd to the nearest exit.

[big teej]

Rowan:

Nina lets go of your hand and takes another step toward the door, turning back to face you. She glances at your eyes and then down the corridor, back toward the party. She runs a finger through her hair, pulling an errant lock back behind her ear. She shrugs. "I had something kinda important to tell you, away from prying ears..." She takes another half step toward the door, still facing you. "But if you don't care to hear it. That's fine. I guess."


Not Rowan:

Matt pushes on one of the side doors of The Roost, one that should lead directly outside. The door opens about 4 inches and then judders against the chains joining coiled through the pull-handles on the outside. A stout padlock is run through several links.

partially obscured by the more weird graffiti, is a nearby sign proclaiming this door should never be locked due to fire code.

[Tentreto]

Rowan furrow his brow. He needed to be told something? This seemed a bit... weird. Maybe it was because he was an overseas student? He had still been picked out from the crowd, but it made things make a bit more sense.

He begins to walk over slowly. "What important thing?" he asks, voice rising a little in annoyance. "What about? Why me?"

[Jaryn]

Matt rattles the door against its chain. "What the...? Look at this!"

He looks around to see if he can see anyone in a security uniform.

"Let's see if any of the other doors are ok. Sorry, I've got a bit of a thing about fire escapes being locked."

He starts moving to the other outside doors to check them. He acts as calmly and casually as he can, not wanting to draw attention to things yet.

[InTheMachine]

Skylar shakes her head. "Nothing to be sorry about. This is how people die if there happens to be an emergency." She follows Matt's lead, looking around for anything out of the ordinary.

Spot Hidden (https://orokos.com/roll/806345): 26...
OOC: I'll spend 1 point of Luck to make this a successful 25

[TerrickTerran]

Alexis shook her head. "Someone wants to keep us inside. Why and who though?" She noticed Skyler examining the locked area. "Do you see anything?" Alexis was uncomfortable around crowds but this was even worse. What if a fire or something happened?

[big teej]

Rowan:

Nina rolls her eyes and runs into the room. The door slams shut behind her.

You smell smoke.


Not Rowan:

Each door Matt finds and tries is similarly chained shut.

Skylar spies a nearby staff member, standing in the recess of the bleachers, nursing a drink.


you see them screw the cap back onto a hip flask and watch it disappear into a jacket pocket.

[TerrickTerran]

"Are we locked in here? Why would anyone lock a whole group of people in here? I know one thing, I'm not staying here. I don't know how but I'm going to find a way out no matter what it takes." Alexis tried to remain calm as she started to look around for any possible way out of this madhouse. Let the others die in a massive fire if necessary but she was going to get out of here and hopefully her friends as well.

[Tentreto]

Rowan pauses, then heads over to the door, testing the handle. "Nina," he says, "What...I think there's smoke coming from somewhere." he looks with rising dread, to see if he can see where this smoke is coming from.

What on earth was even happening? Nina just ran away, and then he could smell smoke?

[Jaryn]

"OK, this feels like more than an accident..." Matt says, trying to stay calm. "But nothing bad has happened yet. There must be other ways out of here - the main entrance or something. Let's find a member of staff or security and then we can get all these unlocked. In all probability it's something to do with the Sweat Lodge and they're planning to foam us or something, and they just haven't thought it through."

He takes a deep breath, trying to convince himself with his words.

[InTheMachine]

Skylar spots the staff member and attempts to hide her disdain at the hip flask. She motions to Matt and Alexis. "There's a staff person there. Let's go tell them."

She makes her way over and waves the person down. "'Scuse me!" She explains that several of the fire exits are chain shut.