peckenpaugh | MARCH POCKET PARTY!

pocket's galaxy express party!

what's up? Pocket is throwing a party tonight and you’re invited! There’s about an hour after dinner to get ready for the big event, enough time for today’s steady rain to peter out and a thick, dense fog to settle in. It’s a surprisingly warm night, but students attending the party still have to trudge through mud to get to the cave behind the falls.

In groups and pairs, students pass beneath the mist enveloped falls and into the caves behind. Here, the fog is even denser than outside, thick billowing white clouds that swirl as students move through them. A great blaring horn rings out, and a robotic voice calls, “All aboard!”

Emerging from the mists and fog, students find themselves on a gunmetal gray platform, standing before a massive, strange steam engine train. The walls beyond the train are glass, overlooking a starry night sky. A shiny chrome robotic conductor rolls by, “Tickets please! Have your tickets ready, folks! We don’t want to delay departure.”

visuals!

Any regular text goes here.

how this works! ⬥ Welcome to Pocket’s party! Pocket always wants to hang out with the students of Peckenpaugh, and she uses her unusual magic to give them fantastic new places to play with her. This is Pocket’s domain, and she’ll block or (safely) eject anyone who is dangerously disruptive or threatens the safety or secrecy of the party.

⬥ Pocket Parties are pretty much old hat for Peckenpaugh's students, provided you've been here for a year. What's not old hat is the party itself. Pocket's parties are always reliably wild and imaginative, bending the limits of magic and reality!

⬥ The party starts at 8PM and stretches on indistinctly. Tonight, however something strange happens. After several hours of fun, the party ends abruptly, depositing students in the dark Elflock Falls caves, soaking wet. See the End of the Night section for more details.

⬥ The theme of the evening is Galactic Express, combining cowboys with space travel. Fittingly students arrive on the station platform in space cowboy attire. In addition to the slick new duds, you may find you’ve arrived as a robot or alien.

⬥ We didn’t roll matches for stb or 7mih this time but you’re welcome to post opens and scene under the kissing games header.

⬥ We have an RNG minigame where you can fight bandits on the roof of the train! Fill out the form and post it to the "PEW PEW" header to get a roll.

locations! ⬦ ALL ABOARD!: From a misty cave to a transgalactic railway platform! A massive steam engine ⁠— far, far bigger than a normal train ⁠— greets students as they emerge into this strange new world, each of them dressed in duds befitting a space aged wild west. Each of the (number) cars hooked to the engine combines the sleek shine of science fiction with the classic look of an old fashioned train. Faceless folks mill about, and a robot conductor stands ready to usher students aboard. How’re you feeling? What’s your look for tonight? Are you even still human? Hope you’ve got a six shooter handy in case the train is beset by bandits, but maybe leave the assless chaps at home. (This space replaces our typical WHAT’S UP section, filling the same purpose while also providing a space to scene on the train platform.)

⬦ PRIVATE CABINS: Students board onto a long and somewhat narrow hallway lined with sliding doors. Each one opens into a cozy private space that’ll comfortably fit six teenagers, but can certainly squeeze in a few more. Each private cabin has a single large window on the far side of the room for you to watch the Milky Way streak by. Two comfortable sofas sit on either side of the little room and a center table divides them. If you’re up for climbing and cramped spaces, above each couch is a bed tucked away. These spaces are perfect for having your own private party.

⬦ THE BRIDGE: Near to the Private Cabins, the bridge is the most plainly futuristic car on the train. Glowing holographic screens shine from sleek black surfaces, delivering maps and information in an alien language that looks a bit like Appalachian Mushkin. A faceless crew of humans, aliens and androids mills about, speaking in the mumbled language of dreams ⁠— you understand, even if you can’t quite hear. Something always seems to be happening up here, with frequent jumps to warp bringing the train into the orbit of gas giants, or dipping down into the atmosphere of sparkling ocean planets. Occasionally, a comm will open and a strange alien will speak about something or another. Here, every touch surface and screen is interactive, producing lights and sound with each press and swipe. It’s fun to punch out a tune.

⬦ PARTY GAMES: Ordinarily it might be odd to see a bunch of teenagers milling about a starship bridge, but this is Pocket's world, baby! Nothing's stopping you from giving the faceless crew a hard time, and a group of kids have done just that, setting up shop in the middle of the room. They're spinning a bottle, playing kissing games, much to the chagrin of the crew. Pocket, in the captain seat, seems amused, though. If you want to get a round of 7 Minutes in Heaven in, there's an elevator to nowhere that'll carry you up and then back down in a journey that takes exactly seven minutes. Convenient.

⬦ DINING CAR: Exit the far side of the private cabins to arrive in the Dining Car. Spacious and richly decorated, this car is equal parts high class honky tonk saloon and Enterprise mess hall. The warm dark wood is accented in greens, a nod, perhaps, to the upcoming St. Patrick’s Day holiday. The room’s large windows look out into the void and it’s easy to lose yourself in watching stars and comets whir by. From here, it seems the train is traveling through a cluster of rocks, and there’s plenty to look at outside. Pleasant music fills the room, all danceable pop hits from the last thirty years rendered on a player piano. There’s ample places to sit, both at large round tables and the bar. A robot with a handlebar mustache literally made from handlebars is mixing drinks, all of which are served in squat saloon glasses and garnished with a ton of lucky charms marshmallows, because Pocket is pretty sure St. Patrick’s Day is a celebration of the Lucky Charms mascot. All the food is really bizarre, strange shapes and colors, definitely alien.

⬦ WHY DOES IT ALWAYS HAVE TO BE SNAKES?: There’s hay on the floor of this dimly lit car, which contains two large crates, both just brimming with snakes. Looks like someone saw Last Crusade.

⬦ OBSERVATION DECK: Getting past the snakes brings partygoers to their next challenge. The first step into this strange room finds no ground. Here, it’s as though you’re stepping out into space, but upon closer inspection this car is simply a massive orb of glass. There’s no gravity here, and you float freely. A rope extends the length of the room, allowing easier passage from one side to the other. This car may as well be its own miniature galaxy, full of little glowing stars, planets and moons in orbit. There’s a tiny replica of the train rocketing around, as well as comets and little flying saucers. Every once in a while, an asteroid hits a planet with a loud pop, or a star explodes in a bright flash of light and … pop corn? Closer to the edges of the room, there are bars to anchor onto, so you can stare out into the actual void. On these edges, it’s quite romantic. A good place to cozy up and share a quiet moment.

⬦ TOP OF THE TRAIN: Access the roof of the train by climbing up a ladder and through a hatch in the caboose. Somehow, despite being in the void, you can still breathe here. It’s quite the view out here, but there’s not much time to enjoy it. What’s more, it seems the train itself is under siege! Bandits are running across the cars. Grab a laser gun and help fight them off!

⬦ END OF THE NIGHT: It feels like the party has stretched on for hours, but where usually students are able to leave at their own pace, tonight things end with a bang. Wherever you’re standing, whatever you’re doing, everything flickers, blurs and pulls long. A glitch like a brownout that shakes this fake reality Pocket’s built. Things dim and snap back three times total, before everything abruptly melts, transforming into water and soaking everyone. It’s 10:45PM and students are left standing in the Elflock Falls caves with a confused-looking Pocket, who insists this must be a bit of bad luck, given the date. Pocket bids everyone goodnight, and they’re left to head back to their Houses.

⬦ OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Okay, we got two teams. The, uh," Wyatt screws his face up, trying to think of something appropriately space themed, but also cool. He definitely should have asked Eddy to name the teams, but too late now. "Star Raiders and the Moon Outlaws," he finally announces. Those are definitely things in space. "Then we got the quod." The ball he holds up is actually a bright yellow sun, warm but not uncomfortably so, and a little bit bigger than a quod. "Rules are your standard american high school quodpot rules. Pots at either end of the field." He gestures to two silver cauldrons on the far sides of the sphere, neatly divided by the rope. Instead of pursuing whatever mystery seems to be happening around them, Wyatt had asked the Party Bug for sports gear. "'Cept, no brooms. No gravity. Should be fun. Who wants in?"

"Oh! Oh!" Claudia throws her hand up in the air, bouncing slightly as if Wyatt might miss her. "I'll be a space cowboy!!" Neither team is named the space cowboys. She's fine with that. "How strict are we on fouls?"

Gemma bounds up to Claudia. "I'll be on your team! Let's be on the STAR RAIDERS! Even though Quodpot is VASTLY INFERIOR to Quidditch."

"Me!" Adrian exclaims, and then immediately gets hit in the back of the head by a flying saucer that makes him spin in the air. "Ow."

Tybalt laughs at Adrian's misfortune, and then ducks to avoid it himself. This means that he's playing and that he's learning.

Wyatt points at Claudia, "Well, unless someone volunteers to ref, who's gonna call them?" Then he points at Gemma to announce, "Wrong! Bad take! Quodpot has explosions." He puts a hand out to stop Adrian and catches him awkwardly by the forehead. Then he pats Tybalt's shoulder approvingly.

He's pretty sure he'd make a great team captain.

"Well if this is the Wild West, what are we even waiting for?" Claudia asks, a mischievous glint in her eye just before she launches herself into the gravity-less atmosphere. "PICK YOUR TEAMS ON THE FLY!" She catches a tiny planet as it drifts by and chucks it down to her nearest cohort before somersaulting away.

"Oh my god!" Felicity call out when Claudia grabs the planet. "Take your hands off Uranu--"

She swallows the last of the joke and ducks out of the way to avoid the projectile.

This is going to be fun. She launches herself into the gravity-less room, laughing. "Moon Outlaws, lessgo!"

"ANUS!" Wyatt supplies cheerfully, high-fiving Felicity, the force of which sends them in opposite directions. "And I'm a moon out—!" he hollers as he drifts away, then collides with Adrian.

MARCH POCKET PARTY!

Space Quod (OPEN+++)

Space Quod (OPEN+++!!!)

Space Quod (OPEN+++!!!)

Space Quod (OPEN+++!!!)

Space Quod (OPEN+++!!!)

Re: Space Quod (OPEN+++!!!)

Space Quod (OPEN+++!!!)

Space Quod (OPEN+++!!!)

Space Quod (OPEN+++!!!)