peckenpaugh | SKI WEEKEND! Day 1

to helvetia!

what's up? It’s frigidly cold this morning when students gather in town to load onto buses for the big ski trip this weekend. After boarding and a final head count, everyone is off, chased by a light snow that ramps up the higher into the mountains they climb. Out of the holler and headed southward, Peckenpaugh’s students are in for a bit of a bumpy ride as flurries give way to a total white out. It’s two hours of wintry driving before the buses arrive in the magical half of Helvetia, West Virginia.

The view is gorgeous, a winter wonderland spilling out across the hills. A shop-lined cobblestone street winds up into the hills to the main resort, a tiny hamlet of swiss chalet houses unto itself. Around all that? Acres and acres of hills, slopes and even ramps for winter recreation. Snow-capped and decorated for the season, Helvetia is so breathtaking, it takes a minute to realize: the seniors never arrived...

visuals!

volunteer slots! While unpacking Uriah Hatfield opens a drawer and a dang boggart pops out, revealing their greatest fear to their roommates. Great start to the trip (Happy Friday the 13th). Their roommate/chalet-mate 💯 Presley Mondragon steps in and banishes the creature with an expert Riddikulus. Mr. Purcell hears about the fiasco later and awards Presley with 5 points to their house.

💯 Tony and 💯 Adrian each lose 5 Points for their House(s) for decorating the balcony of their chalet with an anatomically correct snow person. Honestly worth it.

Well, Elflock Liquor might’ve been closed, but thank god the wizards out here in Helvetia have a liquor store, too. This evening Wyatt Webberley and [CHARACTER F] head on down to stock up at the liquor store. The moment they walk in, an age line at the door causes them both to grow beards, but Wyatt kind of works it. (If they can get a thread to six replies, consider the trip, somehow, a huge success.)

roommates list!

CHALET 1

Adrian
Eddy
Skip
Tony
Wyatt

Armani
Chanel
Honey
Laszlo

Elijah
Harrison
Lionel
Nico

Desmond
Patrice
Presley
Uriah

CHALET 2

Claudia
Holland
Maisy
Merlin
Val

Felicity
Fiona
Lydia
Pax
Scarlett

Constanza
Echo
Magnolia
Ramona

CHALET 3

Bijou
Cedar
Hawthorne
Willow

Mary Grace
Trudy
Xenia
Zadie

Atlas
Gideon
Josh

CHALET 4

Audrey
Freya
Fred
Jupiter
Kermit

Imogen
Poppy
Viola
Winter

Aristotle
Fitz
Maverick
Tybalt

how this works! ⬥ Students left Peckenpaugh bound for magical Helvetia, West Virginia at 10AM. With the snow, the bus ride should take about two hours.

⬥ Juniors and sophomores (and freshmen) arrive at the resort at ~12:00 PM. They're able to settle into their rooms, claim a bed, and explore a little bit!

⬥ The first day of the ski trip leaves most of the afternoon and evening open for students to explore the grounds. After you've gotten your stuff set in, get some skiing and sledding in if you want, hit the shops or grab a bite to eat.

⬥ A second post will go up on Saturday featuring a day on the slopes (with RNG games for sledding/skiing and more emphasis on that portion of the resort, so don't worry if you want to get up to some serious winter sport threading) and then a cozy evening party with an ugly sweater contest. Day three is our return trip, plus another surprise.

⬥ Curfew is 10:30PM so get back to your assigned chalet by then! Head counts are done shortly after that.

⬥ What about the seniors?! The seniors will get to the lodge eventually! After a spot of bad luck on the ride in (Happy Friday the 13th), the senior class is currently stranded on the side of the road and needs to figure out how to get out of this jam.

No matter what, seniors will arrive safe and sound, just a few hours later than everyone else!

This is a bonding experience! We’ve split the senior class into groups and given each group a prompt. This prompt is not a puzzle or task that needs to be solved/completed, but rather something specific for your characters to thread or discuss over the journals.

The group that has the most activity relating to the senior stranding by Monday, December 16th will be awarded with a spook in the pcal in January. How are we calculating activity? Well…
- Throughout this weekend, any narrative tags made under the Trouble header on this IC/OOC by seniors within their group will be worth 5 points.
- For Friday, December 13th only, any journal posts made by a senior, pertaining to the senior stranding and tagged with "* event: senior stranding" are worth 5 points.
- Throughout the weekend, any comments made by seniors on a seniors stranding tagged post will count for 1/2 point. Reaction icon comments will not count for points.
- We'll tally the numbers up next week and announce a winning group.
Click here for groups and prompts!
GROUP 1: Fred, Freya, Josh, Kermit, Maisy, Tony
PROMPT: Group 1, you're on tire duty! Staff needs help digging the bus out of the snowbank. Listen to Mr. Stirling curse under his breath as he fiddles with the engine. Watch Ms. Kwan find it highly amusing.

GROUP 2: Elijah, Imogen, Mags, Merlin, Val
PROMPT: Mr. Trullinger's taking Group 2 out on a "nature hike" to figure out just where they are. Turns out, y'all are in Lepidopterite country. There's a settlement nearby — that explains the anti-apparition. The Lepidopterites are not open to outsiders, so Mr. Trullinger leaves the kids outside the town to go in and ask for assistance.

GROUP 3: Claudia, Constanza, Echo, Harrison, Nico, Trudy
PROMPT: Group 3 fixates on survival, gathering blankets, casting warming charms, accounting for food. They're in the middle of discussing where to find water and build a camp fire when Ms. Kwan wanders over and suggests that it'll only be an hour or two at most, why don't you kids quiz your friends on their upcoming midterms?

GROUP 4: Audrey, Holland, Jup, Lionel, Xenia
PROMPT: Group 4 swears they just saw something HUGE moving in the forest! Ms. Dorkins won't let them investigate any further. Maybe they can distract her and sneak past. Maybe they can convince her to join them.

locations! ⬦ PACKING & BUS RIDE: Peckenpaugh is using four standard magic buses to move its kids from Elflock Falls to Helvetia, one for each year. These enchanted vehicles move a bit faster than normal, passing by muggle traffic with ease, but with the weather it still takes about two hours for the first buses to arrive at their destination. Rows of seats comfortably sit two to three students, and the back of the bus is always wilder than the front. Grab a window seat if you can, the snow and scenery on the drive is lovely.

⬦ SENIOR STRANDING: Elflock Falls is barely out of the rear view when the snow starts to really pick up and before long it's dumping on them. For the most part, aided by magic, this just means it's slow going, but the senior bus hits a patch of bad luck and black ice. The magic school bus swerves right off the road and into a big fluffy snow bank. Thankfully, everyone is unharmed, but with no cell service, no GPS, and (as Mr. Stirling learns the hard way) finding themselves in an unknown Anti-Apparition zone, everyone's going to have to pitch in or sit tight to get this bus back on the road.

⬦ THE LODGE: The centerpiece of magical Helvetia’s ski resort is its lodge, a massive wood structure with Swiss-influenced architecture. Upon entry, visitors find themselves in a warm and warmly lit lobby decorated with boughs of pine and wintry garlands of berries, fitted with furniture fashioned from old ski lift parts. The front desk is alternately staffed by a harried-looking college aged witch and an extremely low key sasquatch throughout the weekend, both of them happy to help with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Adjoining the main lobby is a restaurant and bar — you can spot the staff at the bar in the evenings, but you have to be over 21 to sit there. Sorry kids! Beyond the restaurant is a cozy reception room with tall windows and a fenced-in balcony overlooking the slopes and an absolutely massive fireplace fashioned from copper, iron and stone. There’s a basic amenities shop, in case you forgot deodorant, and a heated indoor pool, hot tub and sauna also host to a fantastic view of the mountains.

⬦ CHALETS: Four chalets have been reserved for students, large wood-and-stone buildings in the Swiss style with wrap around balconies on the second and third floors. Each one is decorated in Peckenpaugh colors with string lights and large banners welcoming the teenage guests to their homes for the weekend. The interiors are all roughly the same, three floors with five total bedrooms (each with its own bathroom!), vintage and antique alpine furniture and ski lodge equipment repurposed into more modern furniture and decor. The common area on the first floor of each chalet features a comfortable, cozy seating area with fireplace, kitchen and dining area.

⬦ THE SLOPES: Helvetia's magical ski resort spills out across acres and acres of tree-dotted hills and mountains. It features slopes rated green circle (easy) to the expert-level double black diamond. Magical ski lifts lit by bobbing magical lanterns carry skiers up from the bottom of the slopes. There's even a fenced in area specifically for large donut-shaped sleds that seat up to four. Once you ride to the bottom of this sled hill, the sleds are enchanted to carry you right back up again for another go.

⬦ AROUND HELVETIA: The magical side of Helvetia is a great deal bigger than its teeny tiny muggle counterpart, but it’s still comparable to Elflock Falls. The area is considerably more upscale than Peckenpaugh’s home town, with expensive outdoor supply shops, a couture boutique and a couple of very fancy looking restaurants. Not the sorts of places that like teenagers poking around, but there’s still plenty for students to do and see! Magical Helvetia has many shops that are kid friendly, a chocolatier/cafe, a restaurant known for its raclette dinner and street carts peddling warm rosti. Roads are cleanly shoveled and the streets are lit by both lanterns and string lights. Despite the cold, a live goblin band is playing outside one of the taverns, filling the tiny town with music. The snow has slowed to a light flurry by late afternoon, and the big fluffy flakes hold steady well into the night.

⬦ OOC - QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Another short exhale of laughter huffs its way out of his mouth at the very clear and concise answer, small dragon-cloud of warm air accompanying it. It should probably be as simple as that. But the siren song of finger foods and the quiet of whatever corner's unoccupied seem to catch him every time.

When Viola spins her way back in, back close, Des lets his hand slide around her back a little tighter, but still well within the bounds of what's respectful. "There's never any rules." Not when it comes to people. "You think there's rules, but nobody's followin' the ones you are." He shrugs, jostles her fingers with it just a little. "Can never figure it out."

Oh. She agrees with him entirely. Consider her interest peaked.

Fortuitously, the band announces that this next number is an ode of sorts and the music pitches down to something softer and sweeter, so Viola can speak her question instead of calling over the general racket. “What rules do you follow?” She keeps her face turned up toward his, gray eyes watching with unnervingly rapt fascination.

Desmond maybe feels a bit like something gangly caught up in headlights, cheeks heating just a little.

"Dunno." He pauses for a second, lets his teeth catch at the inside of his cheek. He isn't quite certain how to say 'whatever ones make your welcome wear out slower' in a manner that doesn't sound like he's accustomed to being kicked out. Because that isn't exactly correct either. "I guess it's just -" Another slight twitch of his shoulders. "Don't take up too much space that's anybody else's. Don't pretend you know what you're supposed to be saying."

Viola lets his answer float around in her head for a moment. Even lays her cheek against his shoulder to give him a brief reprieve from her searching gaze as she thinks. She often finds herself shrinking down until she's literally invisible—hidden away in impossibly small spaces. Not so often now as she did when she was younger but she thinks she understands this rule. And she almost never says anything confidently. Every statement caged by an 'I think' or 'I suppose.'

She doesn't think she could explain why she does this though or where these self-imposed rules stem from. If she lifts her head he might ask. So, she doesn't.

"I understand that."

Some people just find boxes. It isn't all bad - keeps things neater, measures them out, lets you know when you're about to spill over. But then it doesn't exactly let a person spill over. Which people need to do sometimes. Or, at least that's what Des had taken from his brother going off on some tangent about the importance of coloring outside the lines when they'd been up on an overnight shift.

That and maybe why Griz'd been frowning at one of those adult coloring books somebody'd left in the reception area like it'd gone and insulted their momma.

Des hums instead, an agreeable sound not intended to land on beat with the music. "Could stand some improvement, probably."

"Maybe," Viola lifts her head and leans away, so they can continue speaking normally. He'll need to see her face to know she's only teasing. "Those boys in your dorm could stand to give up a little more space," she deadpans, "You'll give yourself a cramp, curling up to accommodate them."

Desmond lets his own head tilt, crooked and thoughtful and his grin gone sheepish.

"Don't mind too much," he admits. "I like knowin' where I'm supposed to fit." A shrug, shoulder tilting briefly upward under her fingers. "Ain't smart enough to get by without the instructions."

Viola doesn't know how to respond to that. She's not in the habit of giving compliments when they're being fished for—though that's not what she thinks is happening here. Contradicting his own perception of self seems presumptuous, too. She keeps her kind thoughts about him to herself, though perhaps he can read them on her face or infer from the gentle shake of her head.

"Who do you think are the edge pieces of your life puzzle? The people that form the borders?" She asks, swaying along to the music.

He takes a clear, drawn-out moment to turn his answer over. Des isn't much of a metaphor person. Hasn't really thought of himself as any sort of interlocking anything before. Doesn't know if it sounds real accurate, but he's willing to consider it.

Few years ago it'd be an easy answer - would've been his momma and nobody but his momma. It'd still have a lot of her. More of her than it probably should. The idea makes the corners of his mouth twitch downward.

"Does it got to be a person?"

SKI WEEKEND! Day 1

AROUND HELVETIA: Viola & Desmond at the Goblin Show

AROUND HELVETIA: Viola & Desmond at the Goblin Show

AROUND HELVETIA: Viola & Desmond at the Goblin Show

AROUND HELVETIA: Viola & Desmond at the Goblin Show

AROUND HELVETIA: Viola & Desmond at the Goblin Show

AROUND HELVETIA: Viola & Desmond at the Goblin Show

AROUND HELVETIA: Viola & Desmond at the Goblin Show

AROUND HELVETIA: Viola & Desmond at the Goblin Show

AROUND HELVETIA: Viola & Desmond at the Goblin Show