World of Darkness World of Darkness: The Academy - The Trevor Dalton Academy (IC Information Thread)

[Dawn OOC]

The History

The Dalton was built in 1948 by Wilbur Dalton, a wealthy businessman. While he was rumored to have made his wealth in the Black Market that rose to meet consumer demand in World War II, he was considered an upstanding member of high society. His life was perfect, until the death of his son, Trevor, at an early age. The details are sketchy, but there was a car accident that killed the young man.

The loss of his wife, Mary Andrea, soon after left him very much alone, and he sought a way to surround himself with people. Having always loved children, it seemed natural to open a boarding school, and construction began in 1946.

In 1949, he remarried - one of the teachers from the academy - and had more children of his own, but he always remained close to the students in his school. Many of the Academy’s earliest students have fond memories of the jolly man who always had a smile and candy in his pockets.

He retained his good nature until the ‘Troubles’ in 1975; after that, his enthusiasm for the school and life drained, and he died early in 1976.

The 'Troubles'

Very little official information is available today on what happened on at the Dalton on September 16, 1975. Even in 1975, money could cover things up, and while Dalton was in too much shock to act, his children and wife moved quickly to cover up the mess. Townies talk of students and faculty dying or disappearing; only the students involved and those who covered it up know the full details, but so far, none of them have been forthcoming. Today, when it is spoken of at all, it is referred to as "that dreadful thing in 1975" or just as "Dalton's Troubles".

[Dawn OOC]

The Campus

The Academy has several buildings on its campus in addition to the dormitories:

• The smallest of these is the Howard Mayflower Art Building, which was built in 1972 to house the school’s expanding arts programs. Today, it includes a small photography studio in addition to more standard rooms. This was once called the Apollo Art Building before its 1988 renovation.
• The Wiley David Forrester Material Arts Building houses the campus’ auto shop and wood shop; Deacon Knight is no longer allowed in this building without faculty supervision. This building was once called the Vulcan Building, or just The Forge, a play on the fact that it used to provide instruction on the farrier arts. It was added to the campus in 1956.
• The Rachel Greenbough Learning Building is where most of the classrooms are, though the science labs are in the Winchester Science Annex. The annex includes the school’s clinic, sometimes called ‘Student Death’ with various degrees of seriousness and affection. This building used to be known just as the General Learning Building, one of the few original structures to not follow the mythological naming theme that Dalton preferred.
• The Melpomene Auditorium doubles as a theatre and general assembly. It was the third building of the originals built, and still shows signs of its original gymnasium. Because it was refurnished before Dalton’s death in 1976, it retains its original name.
• The Neptune Equine Complex contains fifty stalls in three barns so that members can board their horses at the school. This was the first addition to the school; built in 1950.
• The Damon Deacon Knight Library was part of the original campus, but was renovated in 2005 by Deacon Knight’s father. The original name was the Minerva Library.
• The Nike-Friedburg Gymnasium has a small lap pool as well as two locker rooms, a weight room, two basketball courts, a volleyball court and an exterior track with room for field competition. This was named the Nike Gymnasium when built in 1955, the same year that the Melpomene was retooled.
• The Administration section was once housed in the GLB, but has since been moved to its own building, known the Administration Building. The first level of the building holds a small shop that sells personal items for the students (no, no condoms, sorry) and a rec area with a couple pool tables and ping pong tables. The second and third floors hold the admin offices for the upper-level faculty.
• The campus even has a small observatory, Urania Observatory, donated to the school in 1976, after it’s ‘Troubles’.

[Dawn OOC]

The Houses

There are six houses at Trevor Dalton Academy. Each house can hold a maximum of fifty-six students, though there are usually only fifty at any time. Most of the houses are three stories: study rooms and the cafeteria are on the first floor, along with the House Matron/Patron’s suite of rooms (located right next to the main entrance for the building) and six private rooms (if the school is too full, these rooms are turned into doubles) with attached bathrooms. The second floor contains twenty-two double rooms with two shared bathrooms. The third floor holds a TV lounge and cabinets assigned to students for additional storage.

Lancaster is different. Because it is co-ed, it has two wings, with a central core that contains the cafeteria on the first, the study rooms on the second floor and the TV lounge on the third. Each of the wings have three private rooms with attached baths and the faculty matron/patron’s suite on the first floor, with eleven double room and a shared bathroom on the second and storage on the third.

All Houses have a strict lights-out policy at ten p.m. on school nights, as well as quiet times from eight p.m. to eight a.m. On the weekends, the lights-out restriction is removed, though there are still quiet time rules from ten p.m. to eight a.m. Visitors of the opposite gender are not allowed in the rooms or the hallways leading to the rooms. The stairways accessing the TV lounge are not under this limitation, and visitors of opposite genders are allowed in the TV lounge, the cafeteria and the study rooms. Students can eat at any of the cafeterias; House Mars is widely known to have the best brownies around, and the days when that is on the menu, they go fast.

The History of the Houses

The first two Houses, Juno and Jupiter, were built when the school was built. The next Houses to be built were Mars and Persphone in 1958; at this time, the four Houses were given focuses and students were split by interests, while students without interests (but with money) were placed wherever there was room. When House Diana was built in 1966, there was no focus assigned. At that time, there were more female students than male, and only one new dormitory was needed.

Lancaster is the odd building. It was finished in 1975, just months before the ‘Troubles’. Its name was originally supposed to be Vesta with a flame motif for the mascot. But after construction, Dalton changed his mind and went with Lancaster and a snowflake, for reasons he never disclosed. Just before his death, it is rumored that he ordered Lancaster to be torn down, but that has never been verified. Students who life in Lancaster believe it; they claim the place is haunted.

The House Details

Each House has a symbol or mascot. At the beginning of the year, there are no rankings assigned to the Houses. After two weeks, the first points are totaled. Those two weeks are usually considered key to gaining a strong head start for the Houses, and as classwork is still relatively light, the students are most active at this time.

• Persphone [Girls] – Pomegranate, Athletic dorm
• Mars [boys] – Dog, Athletic dorm
• Diana [Girls] – Deer
• Jupiter [boys] – Lightening Bolt, Scholastic dorm
• Juno [Girls] – Peacock, Scholastic dorm
• Lancaster [co-ed] – Snowflake

[Dawn OOC]

The Rules

Students are expected to uphold the values of Dalton. Fortunately, these values are minimal. The most important ones are:

• Courtesy to all members of the students and faculty body.
• School uniforms are required when a student is in-class. There are gym uniforms, sports uniforms and even certain coveralls in the machine shop required for student use. When not at a school function, the student is allowed to wear ‘street’ clothing, with the following restrictions:
  • Shoulder straps on sleeveless shirts must be at least an inch wide.
  • Ladies do not show their brassieres or tops of their underwear in public; gentlemen do not display the color of their boxers by riding their pants too low.
  • When a young man or woman stands straight with his or her hands fisted at their sides, the hem of their shorts should be below the longest knuckle on that fist.
• Students are allowed to bring their cars to campus, but they need a pass to leave the secured parking lot.
• Students may board horses at the Equine Center and are responsible for their care. If a horse is being neglected, the parents will be contacted immediately. Failure to cease neglect will result in demerits and the ASPCA of Colorado will be called to rescue the horse. Feed and pasture area provided as part of the boarding. Tack is at student's expense.
• (more may follow…)

[Dawn OOC]

Class Schedules

Time - Sophmore Schedule

0600 - Breakfast

0700 - EC Activities

0800 - Algebra

0900 - English II

1000 - Physical Education

1100 - Art

1200 - Lunch

1300 - Computer Sciences

1400 - Free Study

1500 - American History

1600 - Biology

1700 - EC Activities

1800 - Dinner

1900

2000 - Quiet Times

2100

2200 - Curfew, Lights Out

Time - Junior Schedule

0600 - Breakfast

0700 - EC Activities

0800 - Chemistry

0900 - Geometry

1000 - Free Study

1100 - World History

1200 - Lunch

1300 - Art

1400 - Computer Sciences

1500 - Physical Education

1600 - English III

1700 - EC Activities

1800 - Dinner

1900

2000 - Quiet Times

2100

2200 - Curfew, Lights Out

Time - Senior Schedule

0600 - Breakfast

0700 - EC Activities

0800 - Final Year History

0900 - Physical Education

1000 - Calculus

1100 - Advanced Literature

1200 - Lunch

1300 - Free Study

1400 - Physics

1500 - Art

1600 - Computer Sciences

1700 - EC Activities

1800 - Dinner

1900

2000 - Quiet Times

2100

2200 - Curfew, Lights Out

[Dawn OOC]

Click to see the full-sized map.

Here are the current housing assignments:

Mars - Wietz (NPC)

204 - Sean and Micah

109 - Ryan

Lancaster (girls) - Dorn

102 - Emily

103 - Frida

Lancaster (boys) - Burke

105 - Deacon

106 - Ravi

107 - Zack

Jupiter - Bracks

206 - Chester

Juno - Morning

104 - Lorelei

209 - Lucia and Rosa

[Dawn OOC]

The Selected

1 - Sean

2 – Lorelei Sylvia

3 – Micah

4 – Jason

5 – Zack

6 – Deacon

7 – Emily

8 – Ryan

9 – Thomas

[Dawn OOC]

IC events

August 17, 2008 [sUN] - Ice Cream Social and Faculty Meeting interrupted by violent intruders.

August 18, 2008 [MON] - First scheduled day of classes - cancelled

[Dawn OOC]

Faces of the Realms

This is not Relana, but to give you an
idea of a typical Caramine's tone and coloring.


Likewise, this is not Brahn or his sister, but
again it gives a clear idea of their typical
appearance.