[!] BITS & PIECES [IMPORTANT INFO]

[TAYLOR THE CANADIAN]

[bg=1C1C1C][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,500px,true] I. BITS & PIECES

[bg=090909][atrb=cellPadding,0,true][atrb=cellSpacing,0,true][atrb=border,0,true][atrb=width,460px,true] 001. OUR PLOT. Academy of the Elements doesn't really have a true plot. Instead, the actions and interactions of the characters tend to influence what's going on at the school. If Fire and Water are particularly hostile toward one another it might spark an inter-elemental war, ect. We will sometimes have 'mini-plots' that are usually site-wide and involve something that will span across a month or a few months in-game and have the potential to get all members involved. These will most often be announced. 002. THE ACADEMY. The Academy has existed for centuries. The castle was not originally built to be a school, but rather a safe haven for a group of elementals that were in hiding. It was later turned into a school in order to serve the purpose of training young elementals so that their power would not be discovered by the government. It was built in a secluded mountain range in British Columbia, Canada. As normal mortals can definitely see the school, it is gated and to the generally public known as a 'Gifted Academy' that accepts prodigious children skilled in literature, arts, ect. The mortals have no idea that the 'gifts' are of a different kind. The Academy is not exactly optional attendance. Underage elementals have very erratic displays of power that they have no control over and little understanding of their element—if an elemental does not make arrangements to attend the Academy when their powers surface, the scouts will likely seek them out. (No, they don't know about every elemental. Some will slip under their radar, for they aren't magical and don't always know if a family ups and moves without telling anyone). 003. SCHOOL SCHEDULE. It does not operate on a normal school schedule. It doesn't start in September and end in July—no, the Academy starts in January and ends the start of December, with a break for summer in between. It is also a boarding school due to its remoteness, but students are free to go home on the weekends if they have the funds. The breaks are simple—the month of July (in it's entirety) is the summer break and the month of December (also in full) is the winter break. Weekends are free times as well. Students are free to go down to the Hollow if they wish, as long as they obey curfew and the like. 004. ELEMENTALS. The elementals are a species of their own; though very close to humans in genetic make-up, their power makes all the difference. Humans and elementals can breed, but it will start to lessen the genetic line. Breeding of different elementals (fire&thunder, earth&fire, ect) has no effect on anything but the possible element of the child, though as this is largely based on personality it might not make a difference either way. Elemental power can skip generations, and will die out if it skips too many (usually around three to five). Once your lineage dies out, it's gone forever. For that reason, many elementals look down upon weak lines or those that have too much mortal involvement, though many accept it. Elementals are rather rare nowadays—Maple Hollow, the city next to the Academy, is currently the only pure-elemental settlement and is home to the largest population of elementals in the world. Foreign elementals are not unheard of, but being that the school is in Canada, they currently have the largest elemental population. 005. THE GOVERNMENT. They are the reason that the elementals are in hiding. Ages ago, elementals were found out by the mortal government. In a thirst for power the government began to arrest and run tests on the elementals to try and recreate their genetic makeup to create a new breed of super-human. The elementals panicked and most went into hiding—it was around this time that the Academy was first recognised as a school rather than a simple building or a place to shelter. Nowadays the government are largely ignorant to elementals. In order to keep it that way, elemental society frowns upon any public displays of power outside of the school and Maple Hollow. There is a secret society of elementals rumoured to have the ability to strip their kin of kinesis; no one knows if it's true, but fear of this society keeps most well-behaved. (It is definitely true—those that abuse their powers will have them taken away permanantly.) The 'scouts' (a group of elementals that keep tabs on all elemental lineages and send word of the Academy to those that display powers) are a part of this underground order. 006. MAPLE HOLLOW. It is an elemental-only dwelling situated next to the Academy. Over the past century or so it has grown from a tiny mountain town into a small but very picturesque city. It is largely self-supported and does not need to rely on imports to get by. There is only one way out of the city—a lone road that winds through the mountains and toward other life. The Academy is about ten minutes from the Hollow (in the opposite direction of the main road) and is protected by a gate. The city is also gated. Every elemental has an identification card that will allow them authorization and access and mortal family members who are aware of elemental existence can also apply for these ID cards so that they may live close to and with their families.