The Halls of Medeia - Prologue

[steveflam]

George makes a mental note about the music, but that is one class he will not be taking. He follows Mr Dowlands directions and soon enough finds himself at her office. Unaccustomed, he knocks and waits.

[Ail]

George knocks but no one answers. After a minute or so, as he is knocking again, a feminine voice behind him coughs politely and then says:

"Hello, I think I know you."

[steveflam]

George knocks but no one answers. After a minute or so, as he is knocking again, a feminine voice behind him coughs politely and then says:

"Hello, I think I know you."

George hisses inwardly, nearly jumping. He turns around, looking at the person who has spoken to see if he recognizes her.

[Ail]

George sees a woman elegantly dressed, in her late twenties or maybe thirty already. She is taller than average, but thin, and although her dress is pleasant and has some lively details of colour, her face is nonetheless stern and authoritary. She seems to come from the Lecture Hall, opposite the Dean's office.

George recognizes her easily, as she says

"You were looking for me, I presume. I am Victoria Fairfax, but you know that already. I interviewed you this summer, didn't I?, Mr ... (Bosworth? No...) Wentworth!

So, what can I do for you?"

[Ail]

George shuffles a bit, and greets the Dean to the best of his abilities. Then, very pragmatically, he asks her about how he should go around, where he would get his material, and where he would live.

Victoria stiffens slightly, and draws a faint a smile.

"You're fast and decided, George. I like that. It was one of the reasons I accepted you in here. You show promise, but learn that I demand high standards from this school. I would not like to see you fail the trust I've put in you.

On the other hand, you will be doing extra work, since you have to learn first year's Greek and Latin, but feel free to come to me if you need help. I only wish my students to succeed.

Regarding where you will stay, you should talk to the Mrs Buxington, the head administrator. She will tell you where your quarters are, and I understand your tutor arranged with her to procure your books and academic material."

After giving George the directions to Mrs Buxington's office, she dismisses him and after he goes, enters her office.

[steveflam]

George thanks her and heads off in the direction of Mrs Buxington's office. He will take the time to note any landmarks to remember his way to her office. When he arrives he knocks on the door, waiting a response.

[Ail]

As Christine prepares to leave Mrs Buxington room, the old woman cries her back and says.

"Hey, Christine. Don't forget to take a leaflet with the rules of behaviour. Here!"

And then, softer, she adds:

"And remember also, dinner is at 7pm in the dining hall. You must already bring your uniform."

Meanwhle, George arrives and finds the door open, with a girl waiting inside. Mrs Buxington sees him and says

"Come on in, don't be shy. New around here, are you?"

[steveflam]

"Em, yes mum. I am George, George Wentworth." He nods at Christine but says nothing.

"Miss Fairfax said I should see you for everything I need as per me books, living arrangements and most importantly, me schedule."

[A G Thing]

Christine turns back to Mrs. Buxington and takes the leaflet. "Yes... Thank you Mrs. Buxington." the rules mostly familiar to her she would examine it later but gives it a cursory glance for noticeable differences.

At the mention of dinner Christine smiles and nods as she would change as she settled in her room.

The door opening behind her she turns to see the boy who entered at Mrs. Buxington's request and introducing himself he shyly nods to acknowledge her. She nods back a bit brushing hair from her face to clear her glasses. "Hello George!" She smiles politely and steps aside to let him do what he needed to find his room.

She steps out into the hall and considering leaving for her own she looks back at the room. So far she had not seen her friends of last year and she had time before dinner. She turned and leaning against the wall she waited for George to exit. She remembered needing a little help her first year.

She began whistling one of her favorite nursery rhymes "How Many Miles to Babylon?" while she waited.

OOC NOTE: Link in text...

[Ail]

The woman behind the counter turns to George and says

"Hello George, so you're new here, are you? How do you like our school?

Well, I think I probably should tell you a few basic things first. You'll stay on the East Wing, that's for sure: boys on the East, girls on the West. You will sleep in a dormitory with more boys, but not all of them are your age: we mix students so they can find relations outside their class, and so that older students can keep the discipline.

This is important: the Master here will administer discipline or resolve conflicts if they must, but they expect the older students to do that: each hall has a praepostor that is responsible for the students that live in that hall, but he or she is helped by the monitors of his hall: each room has one monitor.

Have you ever been in a boarding school, George? New students sometimes find this change of life a bit challenging... But you'll be fine, I'm sure."

She prattles like this for a reasonably long time, while she checks her books. She finds George's record, and tells him he'll be on the third floor, room 1.

"I also see you've had some special arrangement with Miss Victoria. Do you have some kind of scholarship? Anyway, you have a set of books here with the scholarship students. Someone is caring well for you, usually students must bring all their material themselves."

She fetches the packet from under the counter, and adds a couple of pages on top of it, with the schedule and the house rules.

"Read them well, and don't forget about dinner tonight. In uniform, please."

[steveflam]

The woman behind the counter turns to George and says

"Hello George, so you're new here, are you? How do you like our school?

Well, I think I probably should tell you a few basic things first. You'll stay on the East Wing, that's for sure: boys on the East, girls on the West. You will sleep in a dormitory with more boys, but not all of them are your age: we mix students so they can find relations outside their class, and so that older students can keep the discipline.

This is important: the Master here will administer discipline or resolve conflicts if they must, but they expect the older students to do that: each hall has a praepostor that is responsible for the students that live in that hall, but he or she is helped by the monitors of his hall: each room has one monitor.

Have you ever been in a boarding school, George? New students sometimes find this change of life a bit challenging... But you'll be fine, I'm sure."

She prattles like this for a reasonably long time, while she checks her books. She finds George's record, and tells him he'll be on the third floor, room 1.

"I also see you've had some special arrangement with Miss Victoria. Do you have some kind of scholarship? Anyway, you have a set of books here with the scholarship students. Someone is caring well for you, usually students must bring all their material themselves."

She fetches the packet from under the counter, and adds a couple of pages on top of it, with the schedule and the house rules.

"Read them well, and don't forget about dinner tonight. In uniform, please."

George listens patiently, intent on her every word.

"Well, mum, I have never been a boarder in a boarding school. Must be pretty obvious. I do 'ave a scholarship, mum. I be presuming me uniforms are already in me dorm room, so no worries there." He takes what she gives him nods appreciatively. "Thank you, mum. I guess I'll be off."

George carries what she gave him out the door. As he is about to head for his room, he notices the same girl who was in before he was.

He looks at her normally, as if analysing her. "Uh, hullo, er again. So are ye off to a class or to your dorm? Like I said before, I am George. Nice ter meetcha. I'm new here."

He appears to be a bit nervous, but it is more due to being with a stranger than Christine being a girl.

[A G Thing]

"Hi George... My name is Christine!" She walks forward confidently and smiles offering her hand to shake.

Whether or not he accepts her offered hand she is not offended. "I was just going to see if you needed any help with finding your way around. I remembered how hard it was to find my way around when I started here. Besides us students don't have any classes today so we can settle in!"

She indicates the direction toward the male dorms and smiles patiently waiting to see what his response is.

[steveflam]

George does shake Christine's hand, but releases his hand, unsure. "I uh, nice ter meetcha Christine. I 'ave no experience in schoolin ter be honest. I jest liked ter read a lot an play chess. Anyhow, yeah, I wouldn't mind knowin me way aroun ere. If yer don't mind showin me around then that would be spot on. They should invent some kind of charts fer new students to git around, eh?"

He smiles and follows her. "So I get there are dorms fer the boys an dorms fer tha girls. Makes sense I suppose." Scratching his head, he looks at her as they walk. "So, what are ye classes if ye don't mind me askin?"

[A G Thing]

Christine smiles and walks beside George as they settle into a stride.

"Well school is not really all that hard... Just do what they say and ask if you need to... If you can't ask them then ask me... I'm happy to help!" Christine looks over at him her glasses sliding down her nose causing her eyes to slightly cross on them in exasperation. "Chess huh? I've only seen it played a bit so I don't know all the rules... I always thought it was interesting though. Kind of like playing a war story."

Pushing the glasses up on her nose they just as soon slide back down a bit as she says. "But reading is something I have done a bit of... Don Quijote de la Mancha, Shakespears plays and when I can get a few a penny dreadful or two that I try to keep..."

"Well, beyond my music class the only other I may have that I can think of is perhaps a Latin class. I don't really know myself what classes I have this year." She adjusts her glasses a bit taking them off to look them over. When she talks next her face is slightly more serious as she examines them. "I honestly have it written down somewhere. Probably some kind of arithmetic or history or some such..."

She replaces her glasses on her face but sighs as they slide a bit down her face. They appear to be a bit loose but only enough to make them annoying.

Going back to smiling she looks at George as they continue on toward the boys dorm. "How about you George? What classes are you taking?"

[steveflam]

"Chess, yes. It is sort of a war game if you think about it really. Strategic." He stops talking, thinking about what she's said as they walk.

Classes, he hoped he had more than a few, but his two most important ones according to the Dean were Greek and Latin. He told her so and a bit more.

"I have ter take Latin and Greek. But I really hope to have Archaeology and Cryptology. Maybe even some ancient Sumerian as it were. I would even like ta take History if I can. That's not counting Mathematics or anything might be considered the norm I suppose. As fer music, I am really sorry but I have absolutely no talent or interest for that matter. No offense, I hope."

He notices her difficulty with her glasses and frowns, thinking. "I wonder if you might try something fer ye glasses, Christine. There got ter be something you can do to prevent em from slipping on yer nose."