Northwood Academy is prestigious, there is no doubt about that. Any inquiries post-graduation by employers will yield surprising results for the school that only the crème de la crème of students know about. Most of these elite alumni have... special abilities, powers unique to them and on occasion their lineage. It is difficult to get into the school. Maps showing the area are blank, as if they haven’t been updated yet, and the winding road to get there requires directions listed in the letter… or a guide in someone who has been there before. You never forget the road to Northwood, after all.
The architecture itself has the old academy seem out of place and time. The main building is ancient, surely too old for the United States with a timeless European style to its design. Whether it was built that way deliberately or has some unknown, mystical element to it is unknown, since its original specifications and blueprints are locked away in the Headmistress’s office. No matter what year one attends Northwood, be it the 1850s or the 1950s, the building still looks extravagant.
Northwood is buried deep in the Colorado Rockies about 5 miles from a town called Belleville and a good hours drive in ideal conditions from Denver. Neither Northwood or Belleville seem to appear on any map, both forgotten by the infrastructure of larger cities. Northwood is not unheard of though. Rumors of it have been told all across the world. The education, the prestige, the normalcy.
Three buildings make up the campus itself: the aforementioned main building, where classes are held and most offices are; the gymnasium featuring a basketball court and an olympic sized swimming pool inside, with a football field outside; and, of course, the dorm building – Rosaline Hall – with an ever-ending supply of rooms no matter how many students attend per year. Such an expensive academy naturally has the most up-to-date equipment, almost scarily so. There will be no punctured basketballs or tattered textbooks here!
For those who want activities to do outside those of the typical extra-curricular sort (Football, Track, Swim Club and so on as well as Art and Music groups) there is the great outdoors to explore in the sparse forests that gradually give way to an oppressing labyrinthe of trees. There are two miniature greenhouses for those who wish to try their hand at gardening. And, of course, who could ever forget Northwood’s most exciting feature, the lake? Beautiful, clear waters untouched by pollution with room for fishing, skipping stones, skinny dipping, and of course, finding corpses of your schoolmates.
Wait, what?
1974
A good year, if your name isn't Natalie Coleman.
'Kung Fu Fighting' came out this year, the song. There was Watergate, speed limits, IRA bombings... Bowie. And, in a more local sense, it's the year Natalie Coleman – a beautiful senior at Northwood with everything to live for – went missing. Her body was found just before schools closed for the summer at the end of term by one of her peers and even though the rest of the student body has had a summer of strawberries and sunshine to forget it, an unmistakable aura of confusion and terror has gripped the school and won't let go.
Few know the exact circumstances of her death, and they're not telling. The staff are content to hush it up with surprising expertise. Based on the rumours that are going on – rumours of murder and sacrifice – there's a seedy undercurrent to Northwood that most if not all of the students are aware of. Still, there is a choice: keep your head down, study, and hope it isn't you next; or, start stirring up trouble and find out exactly what is going on.
Out of Character Information
Welcome to 'Northwood Academy'!
Basically, this takes place in 1974 in a private school. Your character has a power of some sort, though you and your class mates don't know that everyone in this school is exceptional in some way. The school has about 100 total students and is very focused on education.
Name:
Age:
Year (in school): (In American education typically a freshman (9th year) is 14 years old. A Sophomore (10th year) is 15. A Junior (11th year) is 16, and a senior (12 year) is 17. I will allow for younger characters as all of the students in this school are considered intelligent.)
Appearance: (Real picture only please.)
Ability / Power / Creature: (Please remember all powers are hidden from the other students. No one, but some of the staff knows that the student body has powers. Example powers include Telekinetic, Super strength, or Dryad.)
Biography: (Keep this brief, but include something about discovering powers if applicable. As well as something about how you got your letter. Most letters are sent in the mail, but if you want something bigger feel free to PM me and we'll work something out.)
Personality: (Jock? Nerd? This is a school setting.)
If anyone wants to play a teacher, let me know. I don't want too much in class interactions. Those tend to be a bit boring. I am going to greatly encourage collaboration posts, which is why this is in the Advanced section.
Q: Can I play a teacher? A: Yes!
Q: Can I play a student without powers? A: Yes, but your character will be of above-average intelligence.
Q: How long do my posts have to be? A: I did put this in the Advanced section for a reason. I do consider it a High casual level though. You do not have to collaborate on every post, and I don't want the posts to get too long. I am trying to avoid speed posting, and bad structure for the most part. Please read the posts of other characters. Especially if you're going to interact with them. I can't stand when a poster clearly didn't read the post they are responding too. E.g. Emma goes into the classroom and sit in the front seat. (next post) Joe sits at the back of the class and turns to Emma. See the problem here? That drives me nuts.
Q: Can I play more than one character? A: Yes
Q: Do the students know that the headmistress knows about their powers? A: Yes. She along with a teach had a counseling session with each of the student's upon their original arrival.
Q: What do the grounds look like? A: I'm too lazy. It's mountain and forest, and very beautiful. The three buildings are sort of squared off of each other. In the opening between the buildings is a beautiful courtyard.
A few miles away from the school, is a small town, it too seems removed from time, but not as much as the school does. It has a small drug store (soda bar included), a movie theater, and a diner with a Jukebox and a pool table. There is a bus stop, which a rare Greyhound will stop at once a week. The drugstore is the place to go for most of the students on their day off. There they can get hand mixed sodas, candy, and some other junk food not otherwise offered at the school. While the school does have a couple vending machines for those emergency snacks needed while studying, for the most part healthy eating is strongly emphasized.
A standard gym floor, benches that pull back so there is more space on the floor. Dances are held here. Along with prep rallies, and just about anything that requires the entire student body to be present. There are two large locker rooms, with showers. On the other side of the locker rooms is the swimming pool, a large olympic sized pool that can be set up with lanes, or not depending. There are low dives, as well as one high dive board.
A large stage, with heavy curtains. The seats are red, and thick plush, they are very comfortable. The back wall of the stage has removable walls, behind which are large mirrors for the dance class.
Under the stage, which can be accessed via two trap doors on the stage or through a set of small stairs, is the wardrobe collection. Outfits almost as old as the school are collected there in heavy plastic bags to protect them from dust. Set pieces, from all sorts of plays, are against the back wall of the basement. It is a cool (temperature) room with no light source other than the cracks in the ceiling of the stage where the trap door is, and the bare light bulbs that no one can remember having ever been changed.
An old librarywith the smell of vanilla and dust permeating the room. On the second floor of the main hall. The Library extends up to the third floor. There are several rooms at the back for study groups. A few large tables in the center with lamps for quiet study. There are nooks and crannies with single chairs in them. The book shelves themselves are well kept by the librarian and the few students who help her out. Nearly everyone is convinced that the librarian has a power based around books, but there’s no proof, and of course no one talks about it. The books range from classic literature to important research types. With the right knowledge one could find a book on just about any subject, even the more esoteric of knowledge.
There are two greenhouses. One for veggies and an array of fruit trees. Always fresh for the school lunches. And another for flowers and herbs. Cared for by the herbology club. With the help of the groundskeeper Mr. Johnson.
The building is simple, but comfortable. Each floor has two bathrooms, one for the boys and one for the girls. Bathrooms include showers, small lockers for toiletries, and of course the toilets themselves.
The room is cut in half and creating a mirror image. On either side, a full size canopy bed, mirrored dresser, a desk built into the wall, and a closet took up most of the space, the plush-looking blankets on the beds made up neatly. A window sat in the middle of the space between the two beds, curtains adorn the windows.
A thick old growth forest. Primarily Douglas-firs, with Cascadian species (such as western hemlock), lodgepole pines/quaking aspens, and mixed with spruce. Around the school the forest is thin somewhat, but the further back one goes the thicker it gets. It is easy to get lost once one goes past being able to see the school behind them. There is a trail though that goes up into the mountain further to a great lookoutspot, a spot often used to make out and break curfew. It is therefore checked at least once a night by one of the teachers.
General uniform
PE Uniform
Announcement
About posting: When you post please put at the top of your post who is the main character in the post, who they are interacting with, and if possible (not necessary in most cases) a time. This will help those reading keep track.
Second when doing collab posts please try to keep it in one point of view, usually the person who is posting the collab. Exceptions if the person can't post it for some reason. This means stay in one character's head through the post. Character A doesn't know why character B is laughing at the announcement board, so character a can't say/think "B is laughing a the announcement board because there's a funny picture of a cat with bunny ears." Character B could be laughing because they found a joke about two rabbits meeting a Buddhist for lunch. If you need help please feel free to message me, or join the chatzy as I will be on that if I am online.
Keep in mind things like when to have a paragraph break. Paragraph breaks happen when a new person speaks, time has passed, a new location is introduced, etc. I understand collabs are new for a lot of people so I'm not going to make the previous ones be changed. Just keep it in mind for future ones.
And one last thing, for now, if you start interacting with someone tag them in it otherwise they may miss it.
M - 0(1st period), 1(2nd), 3(3rd), Lunch, 4(4th), 8(5th) Tu - 2(1st), 5(2nd), 7(3rd), Lunch, 8(4th), 9(5th) W - 1(1st), 4(2nd), 6(3rd), Lunch, 8(4th), 9(5th) Th - 2(1st), 3(2nd), 4(3rd), Lunch, 8(4th), 9(5th) F - 6(1st), 5(2nd), Lunch, 7(3rd), 8(4th) Sat - 0(1st), 1(2nd), Lunch, 8(3rd), 9(4th)
Senior Required class schedule
1 - Science 4 2 - English 4 3 - Latin 4 or French 4 4 - PoliSci or Geography 5 - Maths 4 6 - PE or Free Period 9 - Club
Junior Required
1 - PE 2 - Maths 3 3 - English 3 4 - Latin or French 3 5 - Science 3 6 - World History 9 - Club
Sophomore Required
1 - English 2 2 - Geography 3 - PE 4 - Science 2 5 - Latin 2 or French 2 6 - Maths 2 9 - Club
Freshman Required
1 - Latin 1 or French 1 2 - PE 3 - Maths 1 4 - Science 1(pick one) 5 - English 1 6 - Homeroom 9 - Club
Free periods (elective periods)
0 - Music or Home Ec or Sport 7 - Art & Design or Theater 8 - Sports
Clubs (you can take more than one, but they are held the same period so you have to sacrifice time in one club for the other, some of them are seasonal)
Debate Chess Math Science FBLA (Future Business Leaders of America) FFA (Future Farmers of America) Leadership (Seniors are encouraged to take this and be part of school government) Yearbook Horticulture
Sports offered
Swimming Football Soccer Track Baseball Basketball Dance
If you want to put your class schedule in your CS that'd be wonderful.
James Drummond-Campbell – but even the teachers call him Jamie.
Year
Senior
Appearance
Jamie is fairly average in appearance, if on the handsome side. He has boyish good looks, auburn-slash-brown hair (he refuses to ever be called ginger) and brown eyes flecked with yellow – ultimately nothing special. He's of average height, no taller than 5'11" with little chance of another growth spurt given his genetics, and a lean build suited for speed and power. It's clear to see that he's an athlete, that's for sure. Tan skin is unusually marked with dark freckles along his cheeks and down his arms, his most prominent feature.
Ability / Power / Creature
Jamie has what he perceives to be a "feminine" ability – empathy, or the ability to sense and effect others' emotions. These feelings that are the backbone of conscious thought appear to him through a form of synesthesia, often transmitted as colours or smells or textures. While not true mind-reading, Jamie's a fairly astute guy and he can make assumptions (albeit sometimes very, very wrong) based on the emotions he feels.
In terms of projecting them onto others, generally it works better if the feelings are already there; just muffled by another, such as anger. Another option is to absorb them into himself so pain, hurt and loss can be nullified for the other person, but Jamie feels the full effect of them. That leads to the side-effect of his power: 'bleeding'. He suffers peculiarly when surrounded by others such as in a football game – adrenaline pumps through his veins quicker, he feels all the excitement at once and while his performance increases, so too does the stress and strain on his heart. Not just that: when surrounded by the melancholic and depressed, Jamie too becomes melancholic and depressed. He can't help it.
Personality
A contradiction in a neat, human-sized package, the sheer range of emotions that Jamie's felt and assimilated into his own personality over the years is nothing short of astounding. Jamie fits the typical stereotype of the Jock – apparently certain of his own masculinity, charismatic, charming and wickedly humorous. He has a competitive streak a mile long. Still, if some of his jokes just stop mid-sentence because he senses building offense, then people tend to just put that down to him being nicer than the stereotypical athlete he presents himself as. He just can't find it within himself to be mean-spirited, even if someone is aggressive to him, because most of the time he can sense the underlying emotions behind it.
In contrast, and since Jamie's personality is at risk of being washed away by those he associates himself with, he also has a more sensitive side; one that loves the arts and can appreciate the imprinted emotions in the piece (whether real or imagined, he likes to believe them as real). As if it isn't clear yet, he's typically melodramatic and sensitive... Though he's usually strong enough to suppress his tears in public places. It could be that some of the rougher aspects of his personality have been sheared away by such continued emotional turmoil; his astounding lack of compassion as a thirteen year old, his propensity for being insensitive and brusque and, of course, his egotism.
No, wait, the last one's still there.
Since Jamie changes like the tide, it's safe to say that unless he's alone (or with someone he can't sense the emotions from, though such people are few and far between) it's impossible to know who he really is as a person. Though, for God's sake, keep him away from the girls during Shark Week! Being a teenage guy is hard enough without all the obvious gender confusion heaped on top!
Biography
In colourfully obscene language, the type that some teenagers haven't grown out of yet, Jamie describes his family with "wealthy fuckin' assholes, but God do I love them anyway". He's the spare heir produced by two distinctly rich and varied lineages: the Campbells (his maternal side, unimportant, skeevy politicians) and the Drummonds (tyrants of the business world with some purported underhanded dealings with criminal elements in 3rd World countries.) His older brother is a bastard and while Alistair can inherit the Campbell fortune, which he will, Jamie inherits all of the property and holdings of the much richer and less prestigious paternal line.
He grew up in Scotland in a manor house with anything a child could want. It was immediately established that Jamie was the favourite and although empathy might have helped (since who could resist a kid who knew exactly when to stop talking?), it was all to do with the circumstances of his birth rather than his fledgeling superpower. From a young age he grew up thinking that sensing emotions was normal, no more interesting than his hair colour, or the fact that he was ambidextrous, or his collection of signed football shirts in his bedroom. It was only when he met his clinically insane aunt – house-bound but clearly able to move around – that he thought otherwise.
His aunt attended Northwood back in the day and even being in the same room with her set Jamie's empathy on edge, like it was trying to find her emotions and only receiving signals of his own. The reason was clear – the gift was in some way hereditary. The fact that without proper grounding he could end up carted around from asylum to asylum certainly didn't help a borderline-neurotic teenager's worries that he was cursed in some way.
She was the one who, in an uncharacteristic moment of clarity brought about by Jamie's presence, recommended to his father that the Drummond heir should go to Northwood. His father had also applied through his parents back in the day but was deemed "not special enough" to enter the prestigious school across the pond. While his aunt was convinced that when he turned fourteen a letter would come through for him as it did for her, nothing came.
So Jamie's dad flew them over to Colorado and knocked on the goddamn door. "Drummonds forge their own path," he had been told. A few meetings later and one swift interview with the 14 year old that set his over-sensitive nerves alight with suspicion, Jamie was in.
Ability/Power/Creature: Air Manipulation- Arro has the ability to manipulate the air around her. She can form it into sharp wind blasts, small tornadoes, even create fog. She has the ability of flight, but she can only fly when she uses her wind to lift her up off the ground. She can also heat the air around her or make it extremely cold. She, of course, cannot solidify the air.
Biography: Ever since she was a child, it was noticeable that Arro was… different. She wouldn’t play outside the same way that younger children would. Instead, she would make things happen just to see the result. She would sit up in a tree and free fall out of it, just to see what pain felt like. She would make scary faces and threatening noises at the neighbor children just to see how they would react. As soon as she reached ten though, all of this stopped and she seemed to go back to normal, but at ten was when she discovered her powers. She was sitting up in that same tree and she willed for a wind to come and knock her off, and it did. She did it a few more times and realized about her powers, but she knew she needed to keep it a secret.
When Arro got her letter, she was coming home from a band practice. She walked inside and saw the letter sitting on her counter. She had actually been expecting this, because she was extremely smart in school, though she hid it very well from those people who thought of her as a “beautiful geek”. She immediately took the school up on their offer and now she heads there.
Personality: Arro is a combination of a Jock, a Nerd, and a Prep. She plays the tenor saxophone in the school band as well as has a 4.0 GPA. She plays volleyball, softball, and basketball as well as plays football with the boys whenever she can. She is always fashionable and seems to keep up with the times, even if it means dying her hair a different color each week. She is tends to be extremely nice to people even if she is a little weird at times. She sometimes has relapses back to her childhood and can tend to creep people out a lot.
For those of you with unfinished CS's please let me know when the are finished so I can approve them.
For those who haven't made CS's yet, please post them on this page so I can approve before they get moved to the CS page. I appreciate your cooperation.
You mean, like how he's special so that's why he got the letter? Art, to be more specific, sculpting. I'll add in some stuff about him winning competitions to make it more clear.
