EchoicChamber

The Marchand School of Sorcery

“You’re very welcome, Mr. Lucshen.” The smile on Madison’s face was as warm as ever, as if the little lapse of of his awareness hadn’t happened, as if thoughts of the war, freshly unburied, hadn’t begun to flit in and out in the back of his mind. He eyed the envelope curiously as Jake handed it over, tearing it open and looking over the the paper that had been neatly folded within. “Well, I certainly appreciate that your family informed us. Especially with Family Day so soon on the schedule!” With deft hands, Madison folded up the paper once more, sliding it into the pocket of his blouse for safekeeping. In the corner of his eye, he could see Oren stepping out of the darkness to join Maeve. Some of the tension that had wormed its way down his spine released its hold.

Good.

Madison beamed at the young man before him. “I look forward to having you, Mr. Luschen. I hope you enjoy the curriculum that I’ve put together- for both my classes. I wish you the best in getting settled in your new room.”

And then came the voice of another student, admonishing Mr. Luschen for what he was doing.

He turned a little to see who it was, only to stiffen a little. If Jake- or anyone, really- had been paying attention, they might have noticed the professor freeze, the guilt that shone fresh in his eyes, his lips thinning into a line. Brushing out his skirt, Madison uttered a quiet “Now, if you’ll excuse me,” before hurrying to join Professor Kovalenko at Byrne’s side.

“Is everything alright?” His voice was kept soft, but there was still a clear note of concern within it.

@akirashadow@VitoftheVoid@ScoundrelQueen

---

“Seems like it.” Quite literally hopping out of his chair, Percival snatched the last of his food and shovelled it all into his mouth, like a squirrel making last minute additions to a hoard that was desperately unprepared for the long winter to come. It didn’t really all fit, so he sort of had to awkwardly press his hand against his mouth to hold everything as he chewed, choking a little as he rushed through the remainder of his meal. After an agonizing few seconds, he managed to swallow the whole mess down, then smacked himself on the chest to clear his windpipe up some.

“If there’s a bunk-bed or anything, I call dibs on the top. Just saying. The top bunk is the best one, and I’m willing to lay my life on the line if it means securing it. I mean, not really, but, y’know. You get my drift.” Percival bent down, threw his bags over his shoulder, and then went on his merry way. He’d have to get one of those slip-things for weapons sooner than later, seeing how he was currently keeping some good ol’ sharpened steel tucked away in his suitcase, but getting settled in his room was higher up on his agenda than anything else for the moment.

He had to admit, though, as far as roommate goes, he got off pretty lucky. Isaiah didn’t seem like the sort of dick that would get on his case if everything wasn’t absolutely immaculate and museum-worthy, or the sort of guy that would just let a sea of pizza boxes drown them both. He was kinda quiet, sure, but it wasn’t like there was anything overly wrong with that or anything. The quiet ones tended to have a lot more patience for his bullshit than most others.

Key freshly in hand, Percival bounded down the hall of the boy’s dorm, counting off the numbers under his breath until he reached 203. He sort of fumbled with the lock for a moment, struggling to get it open one-handed, but eventually triumphed over a short battle and pushed the door open.

The inside of the dorm was...sort of nice, actually, if not really boring. There were two twin beds at the back, each pushed apart to their own separate sides of the room, with a window leading out to the woods positioned between them. Two nightstands, placed right beside the beds. Two wardrobes at the foot of the beds. A pale grey carpet that smelled fresh out of the store, some plain wood desks, two plain wood chairs, a plain wood floor, and plain white walls...

Sure, it was practical.

But it was also boring as all hell.

That was going to change very, very soon.

“Dibs on the left side!” Without waiting for any affirmation that Isaiah had heard him, Percival swung his bags onto the left-most bed. He followed shortly after, leaping onto what surface wasn’t now covered up with a loud war cry. There wasn’t much space, however, which lead to him knocking his head against the wall and giving a quiet “ow, shit”under his breath.

A great way to start off the year, honestly. Perfect way to set the tone.

@Prosaic

Persona in Wonderland: A Persona RP.

It was less patience, and more the lack of real impatience, that kept Gale from doing little more than idly regard the other boy as he yanked at his hair, tweaked at his ears. It was hard for him to be particularly bothered when no pain stemmed from the action, although he couldn’t help but note how terribly rude “Snow” seemed to be. Of course, that didn’t stop him from smiling benignly, and in a voice as sugary as the lollipop corked in his mouth, replying.

“I’m Gale Eden. It’s a pleasure, Snow.”

His interest was stolen from the boy by the suddenly feminine chirps of their benefactor, and for a moment, his eyes rose in genuine surprise. The moment faded as he began to ramble on and on about the situation Gale and the other Dreamers had found themselves in, and while he kept an ear open just in case, he wasn’t curious enough to start rattling off questions like some of the others. The rules of this reality hardly aligned with the logic of their own. The things that populated this world were most certainly not human, and there was a war raging that had brought both them, as well as the comatose children, into the thick of things.

Curious and curiouser. But Gale found it preferable to listen and observe instead of trying to vye for the Rabbit’s attention in things. Already, a few others had taken the lead in the little interrogation, and the Rabbit seemed far more invested in them than anyone else for the time being.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a scream of warning. Gale managed to turn just in time to see Snow suddenly enveloped in a mass of tightly coiled shadow. Taking a cue from the others, he took a few deliberate steps back away from the whole mess, although his eyes were still locked onto the whole process until the very end.

“How ghastly.”

His voice was thick with sympathy, although it didn’t touch his eyes in the slightest.

Two down already.

It likely wouldn’t be long for the next to fall.

Gale swung his arms a little, glancing over to see that the Rabbit had done a very abrupt shift in the time he hadn’t been watching him. No longer was he the dignified gentleman of earlier, but instead had become a high-strung mess of a girl. His brows rose again, and he listened with far more interest as she explained what had happened to Snow, what had happened to herself. There was a bit of rambling around it, but from what Gale gathered, it had been the emotion of the situation that had done him in.

Poor boy.

The apparent leader of the rebellion arrived, although Gale’s attention once again shifted as they were handed their gear. The “Chronovoker”, and a marble. He pocketed the former, and eyed the latter with interest. “Whatever weapon he felt he could handle best”...

It crumbled between his fingers as easily as a robin’s egg. Nothing took its place, however- instead, Gale’s hands suddenly became...noticeably heavier. Blinking, he looked down to see his hands coated in sleek, polished metal. Gauntlets. They were silver in color, adorned with careful swoops and little swirls here and there. The fingers of them both led into sharp, vicious tips. Like claws. Like knives. Fascinated, Gale rolled down one of his sleeves, and brought one of the fingers gently, ever so gently, against his bare skin.

He didn’t even have to press for the spot he picked to bead. A dewdrop of blood formed beneath his claw, and then leisurely began to roll down to his elbow after growing fat with enough mass.

Gale regarded this for a moment, then rolled his sleeve back up again.

They were perfect.

Flicking his hand clean, he padded forward, and leaped into the hungry maw of the rabbit hole.

The Marchand School of Sorcery

Hey, all! Just wanted to give y'all the heads up that I might be out of commission for a few weeks. I have a midterm on Thursday and a bunch of finals next week, which will keep me a bit preoccupied if I'm responsible and all that.
Wanted to put the message on here as well as the Discord, so nobody thinks that I just up and vanished or anything, haha.

The Marchand School of Sorcery

“Mr. Lucshen!” Madison’s voice betrayed nothing but delight as he took the offered hand in his own, shaking it gently. As if this were a party instead of an academy, and Jake had been a guest whose arrival the professor had been waiting for with bated breath. “It’s wonderful to meet you. I believe that you’re one of the students in my Pyromancy class, yes? I look forward to working with you in the future.” It was the same thing that he would have said to any other of his students, had they approached- and it wasn’t a lie, either. It was genuine enthusiasm that he had patched together his curriculum.

And with genuine surprise that Madison regarded the young man’s question. He had been expecting something like “what will class be like” or “where are the bathrooms”, but this was a bit out of left field (although he supposed he shouldn’t have been entirely surprised). Still, he had said that they would be around to answer any questions that the students might have found themselves with, and he didn’t plan to go back on his word. His fingers rested lightly upon his bottom lip, eyes travelling to the ceiling.

“Well.” Madison’s voice was quiet. “I can’t say that I approve of the fact that the Luschens were in support of the enemy, but...well, that really just about summarizes things.” For a moment, his hand dropped, brushing along the ink darkening his wrist. There was nothing more that could be said. There was nothing more that he wished to say. It was possible that Mr. Lucshen was unaware of his involvement in the war, but…

All the same, it was something that was better touched upon with the dryness of class than with personal opinion.

The professor’s eyes seemed to travel somewhere distant for a moment- somewhere dry and bleak, with skies that were never-ending- and then he was blinking himself back to reality, smiling at his pupil and clapping his hands together. “However! That will not affect how you are treated here in the slightest. I can assure you will be treated just the same as any other student here.” It was not the children present who had lived through the war, after all.

Madison paused. His eyes had fallen upon Maeve, concern furrowing his brows. He attempted to hide it as best as possible as he addressed Jake again, although there were still traces of it regardless.

“Is there anything else that you need, Mr. Lucshen?”

@akirashadow

The Marchand School of Sorcery

@Sailorsadie Delaney is approved!

The Marchand School of Sorcery

@Ejected Also, just so you know, there's also a Discord channel for the roleplay. It's really handy for staying updated and having stuff to do in between posts, but it isn't mandatory or anything. c:

The Marchand School of Sorcery

@Ejected Approved! She looks good. She might be without a named roomie for a bit, though, until someone else makes a female character. Is that okay with you?

The Marchand School of Sorcery

The sound of dishware clinking against the table brought Esperanza’s attention away from the bundle of horror in her arms, which was attempting to lick one of the pancakes on her plate with limited success. “Oh! Hello, there! It is okay if you are sitting there, I think.” She glanced over at Helena, absently scratching Chu beneath the chin. “It is okay, yes? I do not want to say it is okay, and then have you be upset because it is not.” She frowned a little, brow creasing with worry, before she regained her pep and reached forward for another bite of her breakfast.

“There was a fight between the girl and the boy, and the girl put the boy against the table. The teacher kept them from fighting too much, though. It was very exciting.”

As another professor entered the room- seemingly a woman, if the dress and the highness of their voice was of any indication- Esp immediately quieted, hushing Chu down and practically bouncing up and down with sheer excitement.

Everything was new, and fresh, and fun. Today was a great day.

@VitoftheVoid@KillBox

---

Percival shrugged, picking up an orange from the table and spinning it on his finger- only to fumble to catch it moments after, seeing as he was absolutely terrible at trying to spin things on his finger. “Sharing is caring and all that, isn’t it? Consider it a token of our budding friendship and all that.” He grinned, deftly peeling the fruit and pulling apart the slices. “Lucky for you, I don’t think they’ll be shipping us off to the desert anytime soon. Pretty sure there’s even a pool up on the roof, too.”

The appearance of one of the professors, quite unfortunately, served to cut the whole conversation short. It didn’t stop him from nodding in approval at the guy, and quietly saying, “Good set you’ve got there. I’m Healing and Illumination. Had been thinking about getting Lev for a while, myself, but eh.” Not wanting to press his luck any further when it came to diving under the attention of the one and only Professor Lovette, he shut up after that, leisurely popping one orange slice after the other into his mouth as he prepped himself to listen.

@Prosaic

---

It didn’t take long for the common room to quiet, fortunately. Some of the students seemed particularly invested in what he had to say, while others seemed more eager to get back to their conversations than anything. Regardless, all eyes were on him for the time being. Madison cleared his throat, placed his computer at his side, and began the show.

A flick of a switch plunged the room in darkness, and another flick lit it back up again- albeit with a much more weak, timid light offered via the screen at the front of the room. Nodding to himself, Madison stepped close to the glow, casting odd shadows across his face.

“Now, then. If everyone is ready, then allow me to get started. As you all already know, you will be attending Marchand for the next semester, during which it will be our job to educate and provide for you. Regardless of who you are, what social standing you come from, or even your family line, you all will be treated as equals here. You will face no bias from your professors- but as a result, you must follow the exact same list of rules.” Madison paused, tapping the remote in his hand and causing the screen to light up with text.

“While you should have received the list when you arrived, I will go over it now, so there are no misunderstandings in the future.

With the exception of any prescribed medications, no drugs are allowed on school grounds.

Boys and girls are prohibited from entering the other's’ dorms.

On a related note, sexual activity of any sort is prohibited.” Madison paused, suddenly, eyeing his audience. “While I understand that many of you will form relationships while here, understand that we will be performing random dorm checks often, and it would make things much less unpleasant for everyone if you all kept from being a bit...too intimate.

“Arrive to class on time.

Do not break school curfew.

You are forbidden to leave campus, with the exception of school mandated events.

If you happen to have any personal firearms or weapons, please check them in with Professor Avalon or Professor Byrne to be approved.

No summons are allowed within class, with the exception of Familiar Conjuration. If you are unable to unsummon your familiars before class, you are welcome to keep them in your dorm until it is time to retrieve them. In addition, if you are required to have a familiar kept in this world for whatever reason, you should have been provided a form to complete so we can properly accommodate its presence.

No reckless use of magic of any kind.

No coconuts.” Madison gave another pause. “I’m aware that this particular rule may seem a bit...well, absurd, to say the least. But it’s necessary. One of the members of staff here is deathly allergic to raw coconut and the water inside it. Coconut products, like candy or soaps are perfectly fine, however.

“Fights are also prohibited, save for any instructed by Professor Byrne.

Lastly, please show respect to your peers, as well as your professors- no matter background, ethnicity, sexuality, and so on.”

All of this was spoken with a clean-cut formality, hinting that the little speech had been rehearsed several times before its official delivery. This was reinforced by the decisiveness which Professor Lovette stepped from the glow, switched the slide to one reading “THANK YOU!!!”, and returned the light to the common room. “That should be all,” he said, all formality dropped in favor of the cheerful air he donned earlier. He unplugged his laptop, and with a click of his remote, the screen lit up with a list of the students’ names. “You’ll find your names on this screen here, along with the number of the dorm you’ll be staying in. Your keys are on the table beneath it.

“With all that out of the way, consider yourselves dismissed. You’re free to go to your dorms or to get to know your fellow students better- just make sure that you’re present for lunch. Feel free to ask any one of us if you have any questions!"

Beaming once more at the audience, Madison gathered up his laptop, and stepped out of the way, off to the side of the room.

The list that Madison contained the following names and numbers.

BOYS

Jaxon Lopez & Azaziel Crowley
[Room 201 A]

Toby Schippers & Caius Veilus
[Room 202 A]

Percival Pelacour & Isaiah Parrish
[Room 203 A]

Canvas Ahktar-Sterling & Nolan Santora
[Room 204 A]

Nathan Negromante & Larke Sterling
[Room 205 A]

Jake Lucschen & Chen XiaoBao
[Room 206 A]

Vanya Mirohkin & Layne Towerfall
[Room 207 A]

GIRLS

Dawn Memoli & Dinah Fox
[Room 201 B]

Helena Kingsley and Leila Ingram
[Room 202 B]

Delaney Markawitz & Serenity D’Amour
[Room 203 B]

Kora Norrevinter & Margie Lopez
[Room 204 B]

Tatia Fale & Carmina Lancaster
[Room 205 B]

Esperanza Ciervo & Lavender James
[Room 206 B]

Mira Thomas & _____
[Room 207 B]

@VitoftheVoid@Avanhelsing@LorelleQuips@Etranger@ScoundrelQueen@Akayaofthemoon@Gelatinous Cube@chocomog333@Prosaic@Sailorsadie@akirashadow@KillBox@Furiosa@Oooie@Dutchess Sarah@KillBox

(GM’s Note: Those are the room pairings for now. The blank space indicates a position that will be filled if/when another male character is added, and the blank space will likely occur again if more people add characters or join in. c:
I hope y’all are happy with your room sets!

The Marchand School of Sorcery

@Ejected Sounds good! Come on in!

The Marchand School of Sorcery

@VitoftheVoid@Avanhelsing@LorelleQuips@Etranger@ScoundrelQueen@Akayaofthemoon@Gelatinous Cube@chocomog333@Prosaic@Sailorsadie@akirashadow@KillBox@Furiosa@Oooie@Dutchess Sarah@Trinais@Illiren

New update! I decided it would be best to elect a Co GM for the RP- @VitoftheVoid! Make sure to give her just as much respect as you would give to me. c:

On an additional note, I'm working on orientation, which shall let the characters separate finally and go off to their dorms, or, if their dormmates are absent, go hang out and meet with some other people. I was just sort of having trouble due to the ratio being off, but fortunately I've figured out a means of alleviating the issue and all that stuff, so there should be no problems on that front.

Thanks for reading! Hope y'all have a good one.