SETTING

[principals]

WIP

THE SCHOOL ITSELF.

Think fancy university. Think lovely stone walls, wood furnishings, and flagstones on the floor; think double-glazed windows, electric lights disguised as gas lamps and candles, and good air conditioning. Think empty, unused classrooms and lesser-traversed hallways spattered with disquieting dark stains …

THE AUDITORIUM

It's an assembly hall with tiered seats towards the back, regular seats towards the front, and a huge stage. More important than any of those features, however, are the six locked, team colored doors dotted along walls.

THE BATHS

It's your average locker room shower situation, here! There are no stalls, but there are separate shower rooms for men and women. A third room comes complete with a large, co-ed public bath. In each room is a lidded plastic bin with enough towels for one per person -- they don't replenish themselves.

THE CAFETERIA

There are plenty of places to sit, but the shutters are down over the serving area.

Once per day, at around 8am, six parcels of food will appear in the cafeteria! They're helpfully color-coded for your convenience—not that the content is any different. Inside, you'll find two single-serving cans of soup, six granny smith apples, six ham-salad sandwiches, a large packet of classic-flavor beef jerky, and a 200g bar of chocolate. It obviously isn't enough to live on.

THE UNUSED ROOMS.

There are plenty of these! Some are generic classrooms, with rows of chairs or benches; others have more specific purposes—there are abandoned science labs, music rooms, art rooms … teacher’s offices, a reception area: it’s all there. None of these rooms contain anything particularly useful, unless, perhaps, you get very lucky.

THE COMPUTER LAB.

All of them have Windows Vista. None of them are connected to the internet.

THE NURSE’S OFFICE

It's locked, both mechanically (lock and key, yo) and electronically (fancy-pants keypad).

THE LIBRARY
It’s your average highschool library, full of all of the classics! There are math textbooks, compilations of poems, Twilight, Goosebumps, etc, etc. There are lots of desks and comfy chairs for your convenience, but … mind the bloodstains and other signs of past violence.

THE JANITOR’S OFFICES

Do you like cleaning supplies? I bet you like cleaning supplies. There are no chemicals in here, but there are mops and buckets, brooms, vacuum cleaners, and the likes.

THE COURTYARD GARDEN

It’s just a little old courtyard garden, with grass and potted plants in full bloom. There’s a pond full of fish, frogs, and spawn, and an apple tree that is trying oh, so hard to bear fruit.

THE GYM

… Is it a gym? It could be a gym. Really, it looks more like a large, stone building with neither windows nor doors. Huh.

THE SPORT’S FIELD

Smartly mown grass; tracks for running; goals for kicking—or throwing—balls into; the occasional mountain of a molehill. The further towards the edges of the field you go, the longer the grass grows, until eventually you find yourself wading through a meadow of tangled weeds and shrubs.

THE WOODLANDS

From field, to meadow, and now to woodland. There are trees here, starting small and growing bigger: the animals follow a similar pattern. Here you may find squirrels, rabbits—of the regular and viciously carnivorous varieties—and hares, foxes, deer, adders … wild boars, brown bears, a small pack of wolves, and a den of spiders that range in size from “dime” to “family car.” They have pincers. You’re delicious.

If it’s edible greenery that you’re after, you may be in luck. Strong climbers may pluck apples; the intrepid may find small patches of carrots, potatoes, and cabbage. There are berries, as well. Thickets of thorny brambles protect a sweet, juicy dark red berry that causes drowsiness; a berry the size and shape of strawberries (but orange) can be plucked from leafy bushes -- these are edible, but very vinegary in taste. Finally, winding around the taller trees are vines -- bunches of what look like blueberries but taste like rhubarb grow here.

THE LONG GRASS

If you’ve ever wondered what it’s like to wade through grass longer than you are tall, well, now you know!

Here you may find (inedible) frogs the size of ponies, and a flock of feathery velociraptors the approximate size of great danes.

There’s also a lone, elusive sheep with a haunting baaaa and a rainbow fleece; you know that its meat tastes of sparkles and sunshine and deliciousness, but you will never catch it. Ever. Long live the sheep.