Sallow Academy

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Sallow Academy.jpg

Introduction[edit]

Sallow Academy is a PBP game of Monsterhearts run by Anders Gabrielsson. The OOC thread is here and the IC thread is here.

Cast[edit]

Retired to NPCs[edit]

Setting[edit]

The Sallow Academy was founded by Sir Ivor Sallow in 1882 as a progressive school where disadvantaged youths could receive a first class education. However, due to some very detailed and specifically worded clauses in the school's charter, in the current day it's a highly conservative institution with very strict and old-fashioned rules. The only real modernization since the founding is that it now admits both male and female students. Also, due to some unfortunate investments (goes the official story; inofficially there was rampant embezzlement and mismanagement) only just over half the students receive scholarships from the foundation, with the rest belonging to privileged families who pay handsomely to have their children attend the prestigious school. Yes, the teachers are known to be somewhat eccentric, and the number of fatal accidents is alarmingly high, but the poor students can't afford to complain and the parents of the wealthier ones aren't always the kind and loving sort, or the child may suffer from an affliction that disposes their caretakers to keep them at a distance (and if they never come home again, well, that's perhaps all for the best).

The school itself is a sprawling jumble of buildings that have been expanded, torn down, and rebuilt over the decades, the whole complex seemling dropped down at random between a deep forest and the rocky English west coast just south of Scotland.

Each year around 40 students are accepted, somewhat dependent on the number of accidents in the previous year or if anyone's been expelled. The academy offers a four year curriculum but some students stay on as tutors or teacher's assistants - most of the staff are former students - with the attrition keeping the number of students around 150 at any given time.


Character Summary[edit]

Character Hot Cold Volatile Dark
Alex -1 +2 -1 +1
Ash +1 -1 +2 -1
Bruce +1 -1 -1 +2
Seraphina -1 +2 -1 +1
Winslow +2 +1 -1 -1
Character Harm Experience Conditions
Alex 0 0 None
Ash 1 1 Impulsive
Bruce 0 0 None
Seraphina 0 0 None
Winslow 0 2 The Lonely Girl

Strings[edit]

Read across from a character's name to see who they have strings on, and read down from a character's name to see who has strings on them.

Strings held on...
Alex Ash Bruce Seraphina Winslow
Alex has strings on... X 2 0 1 0
Ash has strings on... 3 X 0 0 0
Bruce has strings on... 1 1 X 0 0
Seraphina has strings on... 0 1 1 X 1
Winslow has strings on... 1 2 1 0 X

NPC Strings[edit]

Seraphina has strings on the other members of her hivemind (Celeste 1, Octavia 1, Samuel 1), and one string on Laeli

Dis has a string on Bruce

Winslow has a string on Mal and three strings on Laeli

Laeli has one string on Ash, one on Seraphina, and three on Winslow

Other NPCs of Note[edit]

Teachers and Staff[edit]

Regina Burns, headteacher - tall, formal, in her early fifties, an ardent believer in tradition and strict discipline, attended Sallow in her youth

Mister Harrian, the groundskeeper - a gruff man who doesn't take kindly to students wandering off into the woods or trampling his petunias

Mrs. Elsie Huberts, the head cook - a very round, very friendly woman who always has a treat for anyone who visits the kitchen

Mister William Rotford, the Visual Arts teacher - in his late forties, overweight, large glasses, waxed mustache, wears garish sweater vests

Miss Agatha Sherman, the Further Maths teacher - short, somewhere between 50 and 60, dry, strict

Students[edit]

- The Nerd Kids[edit]

Chris - red hair, bad case of acne

Andi - nerd kid, quiet, dark hair, claims to be a witch's apprentice

Mike - heavyset, cropped hair, underbite, chemistry wiz, in the choir

Maliha, aka Mal - tall, Pakistani heritage, runs the nerd kids' D&D campaign

Bernie - blond, good at maths

- Other Students[edit]

Rachel Jones - glasses, mousy hair, sour face, sits beside Bruce in Further Maths

Calvin - tall party jock, one of the Boathouse Baller Boys

Trish Walker - tried to copy Alex' notes in class.

Natasha Bryce - Winslow's room mate

Cale/Melissa Carey - Ash's room mate

Outsiders[edit]

Adam March, vampire hunter killed by Winslow

Logan March, older relative of Adam

Locations[edit]

Accommodations

First-year students sleep in dormitories with four to eight people, while second year students have their own rooms or share with one other person. Dorms and shared rooms are same-sex. (This is to keep with the real world flavor; there's no prejudice against homosexual relationships. The school administration goes to great lengths to pretend that there's no possible way students could ever have the opportunity or desire to have sex. After all, there are rules against it and everyone knows teenagers are great at following rules.)

There are three main dorm houses, with a room squeezed in here and there that doesn't fit the general divisions.

The Boathouse is a dorm for boys, located closer to the shore a few hundred meters from the main building complex.

The Long House has housing for boys on the bottom floor and girls on the top floor. It's unclear if the house is named for its shape - it's constructed around a single long corridor on each floor - or Titus Victoria Long, about whom a number of plaques located in odd out-of-the-way places in the building give seemingly contradictory information.

The Field House used to be a separate building but has been absorbed into the main complex through various additions and extensions over the years. It's separated from the Long House by the football field. (Would football be the main sports at this type of school?)

The dining hall is located on the second floor of the main building. (Ugh, I just remembered that this is different between the US and the UK. I mean one floor above the ground floor.)

About half the students stay at the school all year except for the longer breaks (and a few even over those), while the other half go home over the weekends. Your characters will all be among the permanent residents since I'd like to keep the game focused on the school; it's up to you to decide why they're not going home for the weekends.

There's a bus that goes to the train station a few miles away.

The closest town is small enough and difficult enough to get to that it's not an option for entertainment, and leaving the school grounds is not allowed except with specific permission.