Paracelsus Academy (Mods) (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
paracelsus_mods) wrote2014-03-23 06:53 pm
paracelsus_mods) wrote2014-03-23 06:53 pm
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Life at Paracelsus Academy
Students who attend Paracelsus Academy expect to live there for four years. They may visit home over holidays, but those are brief breaks for a few weeks at best. Otherwise, Paracelsus is their home from age sixteen to age twenty, and it is much more than a school to meet their needs.
The academy is located in upstate New York, about an hour away from Syracuse. It is in a heavily wooded region and considered remote; only one road leads to the academy, which locals rarely travel on. The small town of Longpike is located twenty minutes down the road from Paracelsus Academy, and is the home of much of the academy's staff that doesn't live on the grounds. On weekends, busses go from Paracelsus Academy to Longpike.
Life at Paracelsus
Students live inside of dormitories, with two students sharing a room. Some rooms are apartment style and have a small living room/kitchen, with a shared bathroom, but their own bedrooms. Others have a single room with two beds, two desks, and a shared bathroom and small kitchen area. These rooms are cheaper tan the apartment-style ones. The dormitories are co-ed, but each floor is segregated by gender. Roommates are always of the same gender. Students are assigned roommates randomly. In OOC terms, we will randomize roommates at request; you may also have an NPC roommate or an OOCly agreed upon one.
There are three dormitories at Paracelsus. Aureolus Hall is the oldest, built in the late 1600's, and renovated several times since. The dormitory rooms there are considered to be a little drafty, but have classic colonial style architecture. It is the most expensive. Langford Hall was built in the 1830's, and has a more medieval look, with an exterior similar to a castle; the rooms, however, were renovated in the 1920's to have an Art Deco style that is considered uneven at best. Wellington Hall was built in the 1950's, and has an American university look with red brick, tiled floors, and a studious but functional look. It is the cheapest of the three.
All three dormitories share a nearby cafeteria, which is built in the combination of nineteenth century American and Greek revival style of the rest of the campus. The cafeteria serves quality food and is the only dining place on campus. There is a lawn between the three dorms and cafeteria, with a few trees and benches, that is a popular spot to hang out.
Classes are held in a variety of buildings nearby. Most of them have a distinct, wood and stone construction; many have round towers and impressive facades. Regular classes are college style, held Monday through Thursday. They meet two days a week, held in hour and a half blocks. Most students will enroll in six regular classes per semester. In addition, students also take classes called practicals on Fridays; these are three hour blocks and involve field exercises, either in the gymnasium, the nearby woods, or the Tower. Here, students engage in magical exercsies that cannot be done at a desk. Practicals are scheduled independently of classes, and students are expected to sign up for at least one every week.
The Tower is the largest structure, located on the center of campus. This imposing medieval spire is a magical laboratory and dungeon; it extends a good twenty stories into the air, and supposedly far more below the ground. It is a dungeon, known to contain fantastical beasts, and portions are a maze that require magic to navigate through it. It also has an arena on the first floor, for magical duels.
Classes
As mentioned earlier, characters take six classes. Paracelsus Academy offers far more than six; the curriculum is shaped individually for each student, and while they make sure each student learns the basics, they also develop their magical abilities. Students of different years can be in the same class, as they go through classes at different times.
A schedule of classes can be found here. There are three times classes are held per day: 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM, 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM, and 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM. Classes meet either Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday. The mods have made the following form to keep track of your classes! Feel free to save it as an entry on your character's journal.
If you have a class that you want to add to the schedule, tell the mods! We can put it in there. We may cut this off shortly after the current semester is underway, just to keep things believable.
Longpike, NY
Longpike is the small town neighboring Paracelsus Academy. It is twenty minutes away, and a bus takes students to and from campus on Saturdays and Sundays. Students at Paracelsus are not allowed to own cars (and are not to teleport, fly, or otherwise magically leave). Longpike is not much to speak of, but is the only nearby town. It has a population of about 1,000 residents, and all of them know Paracelsus exists; about half know magic exists.
Longpike has a single movie theater with three screens and a mall, which are popular destinations on the weekend. An Italian restaurant called Giordo's is located outside of the mall, while a Chinese restaurant called Ming's is inside the mall. In addition, one can find the usual suspects of fast food in the mall food court.
There is also Oasis Coffee Shop located in the scenic downtown, with many small shops nearby. These are popular places for students to go, though Oasis is popular with quite a few professors, too.
Grades
Students' grades are determined through tests. The philosophy at Paracelsus Academy is that students should perform well under pressure; because of this, professors have a great deal of freedom in designing their courses and their tests. Tests are held for half a week at the end of every month, covering Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. There are three kinds of tests offered in each testing period. Each student takes one of the three types of tests that day, one for each of their classes.
Written exams are the most mundane; they consist of multiple choice questions, short answers, matching, and essays. Some are renowned for asking for single question essays that fill an entire ten page examination booklet. Others give two hundred multiple choice questions to answer. Others mix and match as they see fit. All tend to be challenging.
Competitions include magical demonstrations and duels. The subject determines the exact sort of competition: some include building a magical artifact, while others will entail a race. Some will have magical combat tournaments.
The Tower is the final test type. Students from multiple years and multiple classes will be grouped in teams, usually of three, and enter a dungeon with various magical puzzles and monsters. They will attempt to reach the end of the dungeon, but will also be judged and awarded points for their performance.
On the Saturday after each testing period, students will be listed from the one who scored the best overall to the one who scored the worst. These rankings are posted publicly. OOCly, scores can be set by players with mod input to determine who performed best overall when needed.
The School Year
School at Paracelsus Academy is year-round, but with a number of breaks and long weekends to help break the year up. The school year begins in early September and ends in early August; they typically take semester-long courses, with one semester running from September to December, another from January to May, and a final one (that is slightly shorter than the others) running from May to August.
There are several major holidays during the year, besides long weekends. The Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving in the United States are traditionally off; American students often return home, but a feast is held at Paracelsus for those remaining at the academy. Two weeks over Christmas and New Year's are also given off for all students; while they can stay behind, they are encouraged to return home.
Students also get one week off during the middle of the Spring and Summer semesters. These can be used for trips home or elsewhere. Finally, students get two weeks off at the very end of the summer semester, before the next school year begins. During these breaks, Paracelsus remains open for the students who need to stay there.
Locations
We anticipate that players may fill out locations in Longpike and Paracelsus Academy over the course of the game. Rather than attempt to make up a variety of them beyond what are listed here, we have made this simple form. Please fill it out and post it as a comment to this journal!
The academy is located in upstate New York, about an hour away from Syracuse. It is in a heavily wooded region and considered remote; only one road leads to the academy, which locals rarely travel on. The small town of Longpike is located twenty minutes down the road from Paracelsus Academy, and is the home of much of the academy's staff that doesn't live on the grounds. On weekends, busses go from Paracelsus Academy to Longpike.
Life at Paracelsus
Students live inside of dormitories, with two students sharing a room. Some rooms are apartment style and have a small living room/kitchen, with a shared bathroom, but their own bedrooms. Others have a single room with two beds, two desks, and a shared bathroom and small kitchen area. These rooms are cheaper tan the apartment-style ones. The dormitories are co-ed, but each floor is segregated by gender. Roommates are always of the same gender. Students are assigned roommates randomly. In OOC terms, we will randomize roommates at request; you may also have an NPC roommate or an OOCly agreed upon one.
There are three dormitories at Paracelsus. Aureolus Hall is the oldest, built in the late 1600's, and renovated several times since. The dormitory rooms there are considered to be a little drafty, but have classic colonial style architecture. It is the most expensive. Langford Hall was built in the 1830's, and has a more medieval look, with an exterior similar to a castle; the rooms, however, were renovated in the 1920's to have an Art Deco style that is considered uneven at best. Wellington Hall was built in the 1950's, and has an American university look with red brick, tiled floors, and a studious but functional look. It is the cheapest of the three.
All three dormitories share a nearby cafeteria, which is built in the combination of nineteenth century American and Greek revival style of the rest of the campus. The cafeteria serves quality food and is the only dining place on campus. There is a lawn between the three dorms and cafeteria, with a few trees and benches, that is a popular spot to hang out.
Classes are held in a variety of buildings nearby. Most of them have a distinct, wood and stone construction; many have round towers and impressive facades. Regular classes are college style, held Monday through Thursday. They meet two days a week, held in hour and a half blocks. Most students will enroll in six regular classes per semester. In addition, students also take classes called practicals on Fridays; these are three hour blocks and involve field exercises, either in the gymnasium, the nearby woods, or the Tower. Here, students engage in magical exercsies that cannot be done at a desk. Practicals are scheduled independently of classes, and students are expected to sign up for at least one every week.
The Tower is the largest structure, located on the center of campus. This imposing medieval spire is a magical laboratory and dungeon; it extends a good twenty stories into the air, and supposedly far more below the ground. It is a dungeon, known to contain fantastical beasts, and portions are a maze that require magic to navigate through it. It also has an arena on the first floor, for magical duels.
Classes
As mentioned earlier, characters take six classes. Paracelsus Academy offers far more than six; the curriculum is shaped individually for each student, and while they make sure each student learns the basics, they also develop their magical abilities. Students of different years can be in the same class, as they go through classes at different times.
A schedule of classes can be found here. There are three times classes are held per day: 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM, 1:00 PM to 2:30 PM, and 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM. Classes meet either Monday and Wednesday or Tuesday and Thursday. The mods have made the following form to keep track of your classes! Feel free to save it as an entry on your character's journal.
If you have a class that you want to add to the schedule, tell the mods! We can put it in there. We may cut this off shortly after the current semester is underway, just to keep things believable.
Longpike, NY
Longpike is the small town neighboring Paracelsus Academy. It is twenty minutes away, and a bus takes students to and from campus on Saturdays and Sundays. Students at Paracelsus are not allowed to own cars (and are not to teleport, fly, or otherwise magically leave). Longpike is not much to speak of, but is the only nearby town. It has a population of about 1,000 residents, and all of them know Paracelsus exists; about half know magic exists.
Longpike has a single movie theater with three screens and a mall, which are popular destinations on the weekend. An Italian restaurant called Giordo's is located outside of the mall, while a Chinese restaurant called Ming's is inside the mall. In addition, one can find the usual suspects of fast food in the mall food court.
There is also Oasis Coffee Shop located in the scenic downtown, with many small shops nearby. These are popular places for students to go, though Oasis is popular with quite a few professors, too.
Grades
Students' grades are determined through tests. The philosophy at Paracelsus Academy is that students should perform well under pressure; because of this, professors have a great deal of freedom in designing their courses and their tests. Tests are held for half a week at the end of every month, covering Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. There are three kinds of tests offered in each testing period. Each student takes one of the three types of tests that day, one for each of their classes.
Written exams are the most mundane; they consist of multiple choice questions, short answers, matching, and essays. Some are renowned for asking for single question essays that fill an entire ten page examination booklet. Others give two hundred multiple choice questions to answer. Others mix and match as they see fit. All tend to be challenging.
Competitions include magical demonstrations and duels. The subject determines the exact sort of competition: some include building a magical artifact, while others will entail a race. Some will have magical combat tournaments.
The Tower is the final test type. Students from multiple years and multiple classes will be grouped in teams, usually of three, and enter a dungeon with various magical puzzles and monsters. They will attempt to reach the end of the dungeon, but will also be judged and awarded points for their performance.
On the Saturday after each testing period, students will be listed from the one who scored the best overall to the one who scored the worst. These rankings are posted publicly. OOCly, scores can be set by players with mod input to determine who performed best overall when needed.
The School Year
School at Paracelsus Academy is year-round, but with a number of breaks and long weekends to help break the year up. The school year begins in early September and ends in early August; they typically take semester-long courses, with one semester running from September to December, another from January to May, and a final one (that is slightly shorter than the others) running from May to August.
There are several major holidays during the year, besides long weekends. The Thursday and Friday of Thanksgiving in the United States are traditionally off; American students often return home, but a feast is held at Paracelsus for those remaining at the academy. Two weeks over Christmas and New Year's are also given off for all students; while they can stay behind, they are encouraged to return home.
Students also get one week off during the middle of the Spring and Summer semesters. These can be used for trips home or elsewhere. Finally, students get two weeks off at the very end of the summer semester, before the next school year begins. During these breaks, Paracelsus remains open for the students who need to stay there.
Locations
We anticipate that players may fill out locations in Longpike and Paracelsus Academy over the course of the game. Rather than attempt to make up a variety of them beyond what are listed here, we have made this simple form. Please fill it out and post it as a comment to this journal!