Welcome.

[trustfellows]

Rise and shine. There are a few things that matter right now - the fact that you're waking up in an unfamiliar but decently comfortable bed, the fact that you don't recognize the room you're in, the fact that you seem to have some sort of headache... Nothing severe, mind. Just the sort of odd, heavy fuzziness that comes with having slept far too long. You don't really remember where you were immediately before this, not upon waking. Something will come to you eventually if you think long enough, however - a couple of seconds of consideration will bring to mind a place, a memory, a recollection of where you were and what you were doing. It probably wasn't anything that would result in you being here, though. Welcome to Graceside Preparatory Academy. You may want to pick up the key to your room before you leave the room, but don't worry too much - your door won't lock automatically, so you won't be locked out if you've forgotten to pick it up. It seems you're not alone, either; the hallway outside your room is most likely full of other confused people by now, and should you turn around to look at the door of the room you just left, you'll find a nameplate with your name printed on it. There's a single word underneath it with no explanation. This is your title, but don't worry about that right now. Depending on when you left your room there may be a clock chiming in the foyer up ahead. It seems like it's seven, though it's difficult to tell if it's seven in the morning or seven at night. There aren't any windows, after all. Should you venture into the room with the clock, you'll find that the only exit is closed - there's absolutely no way to break down that steel bulkhead. It looks like you're not getting out of here anytime soon. The foyer also holds some very interesting information. There's a bulletin board with thirty-five pictures on it. Beside each picture is some very specific and very familiar information. Feel free to examine it. The bulletin board is large enough for plenty of you to gather around and gawk. Don't try to get at it though, that glass in front of it is very thick. If you try to break it, you'll find out the hard way that it's shatterproof. Sorry about that. Perhaps even more of a concern than the glass is the list beside the profiles. It looks like a set of rules. You might want to examine those, though they're not providing much of an explanation for why you're here or how you got here. So relax and get to know your fellow Participants. You might be stuck here for awhile.

Comments

[evilfrenzy]

[Never fear, Tarrlok...!]

Ah, that sort of bending. [He had no frame of reference so that's why he asked for a definition. It's way better than just making a baseless guess.] I assume it must be similar to certain spirit artes. They also involve elemental manipulation, and can be used in combat.

[bloodisthicker]

Ah, I see. So you've got something of a point of reference, but it's not exactly the same thing. Well, that's comforting on some level, I suppose.

So are spirits directly involved, then, or does it just require a significant amount of spirituality?

[evilfrenzy]

Spirituality helps, but it's not required.

[And that topic is a whole different can of worms, so he'll avoid going into detail on that for now.]

But yes, spirits are directly involved. They supply their power for humans to perform artes.

[bloodisthicker]

Hm. Well, that's... odd. I suppose it makes sense, but it's not really something I'm used to, and honestly it doesn't exactly seem like many of them would be willing to do that back home.