Welcoming Speech on Pecari Commons

Prefect Sara Raines

August 24, 2012 11:43 PM

Welcoming Speech by Prefect Sara Raines

As she led the first years outside, Sara felt herself tense up, but she tried to keep her pace steady. Walking in the semi-dark didn’t bother her, but the idea of one of the first years being that kind of Pecari and deciding to pull some awful and completely inappropriate prank while it was hard to tell which of them was which.

“This is the entrance to the Labyrinth Gardens,” she said, expecting that someone, right that moment, was thinking that this should be obvious. “We almost always enter our common room by giving the password to a suit of armor inside the Gardens. They are a maze, so be careful to stay with the group until you know your way.” She was sure there had to be some kind of enchantments on the hedges, for no one to have ever gotten seriously lost and not been found soon that she knew of, but it would do them better to be cautious, at least while she was minding them.

She led them onto the paths, all gravel bordered by hedges too high for her to see over. Some opened onto courtyards, or intersected with other paths, sometimes strangely, but Sara walked as confidently as the first year-friendly pace allowed, her feet remembering the way more than her mind did after so many years of walking the exact same route to and fro every single day she was at Sonora for five years, pointing out landmarks that would help them where she thought she saw them, such as distinctive bits of statuary or strange hedge formations, and soon, as promised, arrived in front of a suit of armor.

“Our House guardian,” she introduced him to the first years. “You just say the password, and he moves aside so the door will open. Right now the password is portent.” True to her word, the suit of armor saluted her and then moved aside, allowing the entrance to the common room to open. Sara curtsied to the knight and then led the first years down into the common room, a space, decorated in Pecari brown and gold in a way that made her wonder what the Founders had been thinking when they picked House colors, which she had always seen as more dedicated to comfort than to looking nice, much to its detriment. Still, though, she imagined it was interesting enough to first years, seeing it for the first time.

“The first thing I want you all to see,” she said, her voice a little louder now to make sure they stayed focused on her, “is the bulletin board.” She pointed it out. “Right there is the notice with the password we have right now on it. The password changes regularly, so you should probably check the bulletin board every morning before you go out for the day, especially since other notices will appear here, too – about Quidditch, and clubs, and things. Quidditch will probably be posted first, but you should ask our captain – Miss Sophia Jamison – or her assistant captain if you have any questions about that. For other things, you can speak to our Head of House, Professor Levy, or to me, or to one of our other prefects. They are Sophia Randolph and Josephine Owen.”

For the first time, Sara noticed that everyone wearing a badge in Pecari House was a girl. Interesting. But not very relevant. She walked to the center of the floor, remembering as best she could how the speech had gone when she was a first year. “The rest of this is the common room, a place where you can all relax, or socialize, or – try to – study.” Though sometimes that could be a loser’s game; it could work better to go out into the Gardens. “You need to be back in your dorms, or at least in here, by ten o’clock every night, because curfew is enforced, and you’ll be in trouble if you don’t. Boys, your rooms are up the stairs and down the corridor to your left; girls, you’re on the right. Don’t try to go down the wrong corridor, because there’s spells that will very uncomfortably keep you out if you do.”

She thought through what she had said, trying to remember anything important she might have left out. “If you all want to gather here in the morning, I can help you back to the Cascade Hall and then point you toward your first class. Does anyone have any questions right now?”

OOC: You may now post anywhere on the site, though your Pecari student characters will not have access to the other three common rooms. Please follow all of the posting rules (which can be found under ‘Roleplaying Rules’ on the site home page) and have fun here at Sonora!

0 Prefect Sara Raines Welcoming Speech 0 Prefect Sara Raines 1 5

Eponine Taylor

August 25, 2012 3:29 AM

Welcome and Comfortable by Eponine Taylor

Silently following her leader through the maze, Eponine glanced all around her at the shrubbery growing much higher than her head. She knew by now that the reason her skin turned brown before the feast was because she had been sorted into the Pecari house at Sonora - the house infamous for adventure! She bounced along the path in excitement, knowing that this house would definitely be a home for the next seven years. The group stopped right outside of a suit of armor, and Eponine listened to the Prefect Sara explain the password system, and committed 'portent' to memory.

Stepping into the common room, 'Ponine grinned. The colors and decorations beamed with house pride, as everything was some shade of brown or gold. Each seat looked comfortable and even the room temperature made for a pleasant atmosphere. She brought her attention quickly back to Sara and soon trained her eyes on the bulletin board, paying rapt attention as soon as quidditch was mentioned. Eponine was more than determined to get on the team this year, even if she was just on reserve. She knew that it was her destiny to become a quidditch star- despite the fact that she'd never ridden a broomstick. Still, Eponine was trying to be positive and rely on the knowledge that her mother was a great quidditch player, and hoped that the skills resided in her genes.

Once Sara offered to lead the first-years back to Cascade Hall before breakfast, Eponine felt considerably less worried. When they got to the common room, Eponine had realized that she'd paid no attention to the actual route to get to there. As soon as there was an opening for questions, Eponine's hand shot up. WIthout thinking to wait to be called on, she asked, "Do the Pecari's schedule any events and adventures to go on together - maybe a hike, or exploring the grounds? I was thinking that since we're supposed to be daring, maybe we could all be daring together!"

0 Eponine Taylor Welcome and Comfortable 0 Eponine Taylor 0 5

Sara Raines

August 25, 2012 10:19 PM

That's wonderful to hear by Sara Raines

The corners of Sara’s smile flattened for a second when one of the first years didn’t wait to be called on before she blurted out her question, but she decided to ignore it other than that and just answer the question. It wasn’t a question that pleased her, either, since the very thought of having to go on a group hike was one she found displeasing, but she knew that many of her Housemates disagreed with her and that her private opinions were unimportant when she was representing the House, rather than representing Sara Raines or the Raines family or anything like that.

“It’s not formally done,” she said, smiling. “The Houses don’t really have group activities – or at least, Pecari doesn’t. Groups of friends usually do things together instead.” She hoped that this girl had better luck making friends with her roommates than Sara had; Sophie wasn’t hostile to her, exactly, but Sara got the impression that she was not liked just the same. She had no idea why. The way Sophie chose to live her life was not the way Sara preferred to live hers, but she had never said a word about that in all these years, since it didn’t really feel like something that was any of her business.

“If you do go out to explore the Gardens, or the school, though, then I really do think you should take someone with you. That goes for everyone,” she said. “It’s easy to get lost when you’re new here.” Just having someone, even another first year, with them might help them not panic if that happened, and surely one of them would know how to send up sparks if there were not spells to alert the staff that someone was lost out in the Gardens by default.

“Always remember, too, that no one is exactly everything their House says they are,” she added, since this felt like an important point to her. “You can’t assume you know someone just because you know where they were Sorted.” She looked around the group. “Are there any other questions?” she asked, feeling a flutter of nerves again at the thought that she might not know the answer if someone had one, and might not be able to bluff. It would she was sure be deeply embarrassing to have to admit ignorance to a first year right after presenting herself as an authority figure.

0 Sara Raines That's wonderful to hear 179 Sara Raines 0 5

Annabelle and Annette Pierce

August 27, 2012 10:45 AM

Capturing Eponine later by Annabelle and Annette Pierce

It was very exciting to both Annabelle and Annette that it was Miss Sara Raines herself who had come to direct them to their new home. Miss Raines had been spoken of very highly as a model Pecari, should they be sorted there, and it was almost like meeting a celebrity when she herself came to collect the newest Pecaris in the school. When she seemed to take note of them, they had curtsied politely. The situation was not conducive to a full introduction, however, so they just left it at that.

They followed her with the rest of the group, out of the school and through the Gardens. This had to be the best House ever. Not even Aether - long believed to be the only proper House for Pierces, until its containing school had gotten shut down - hadn't had its dormitories in such a fantastic part of the school grounds.

The took attentive note of each landmark Sara pointed out, and -unsure, exactly, what the proper way was to make the acquaintance of a suit of armor, they each gave the house guardian a shallow curtsy before passing by him and entering into their new home.

"How do you do," Annabelle said, taking the first turn, and Annette was right behind her with a bowed head, "Master Guardian."

It could have just been a shared hallucination, or just overactive imaginations, but they would both swear later that the suit had inclined its head back to them.

Feeling they had successfully navigated that unfamiliar social situation, they examined the interior of the Pecari Commons with dark blue eyes already lit with victory. As such, everything they saw looked just about perfect, even if the color scheme was a bit earthier than they would have otherwise preferred.

Sara continued telling them about things that were doubtless all very important, but both twins were running out of attention span in the midst of this place that they wouls much rather be exploring personally rather than hearing about. Slightly more able to focus on the immediate task at hand, Annette paid close attention to Sara's speech so she could relate it to Annabelle later.

Annabelle, in the meantime, took the opportunity to look around them, noting the number and faces of the other new Pecaris so they would know who to follow if they ever got lost. She also stepped nearer to the bullerin board to examine in closer detail, studying it as if for an exam, so she could tell her sister about the finer details, if it ever became important to know what it was made of or that notices could be attached by pin or by spellotape.

Her attention was drawn back to Sara and the main group when one of the other students raised an execellent question. Sara's response wasn't as wonderful as the question, but she at least hadn't said it was forbidden.

They waited until all other questions were addressed and Sara seemed done talking, but before heading up to their new room, they ambushed Eponine Taylor.

"Hello," Annette greeted, placing herself in front of the other first year, and giving her an abbreviated curtsy - she was eager to discuss the idea Eponine had raised, but not so eager to completely abandon propriety - "We are Annabelle and Annette Pierce."

"We both answer to Ann," Annabelle put in from a flanking position, chosen to prevent discreet retreat until the conversation reached a satisfactory conclusion, "if that's easier to remember."

"We think you had a really good idea tonight," Annette continued, "and we would be glad to help make such expeditions possible."

1 Annabelle and Annette Pierce Capturing Eponine later 246 Annabelle and Annette Pierce 0 5

Wendy Canterbury

August 28, 2012 11:41 PM

Me too! Me too! by Wendy Canterbury

Walking through Sonora was so magical for the muggle-born. She looked at everything through big hazel eyes and couldn't believe that she was finally here. Her older sister had talked about it for so long and now she was in the same house as her too! Wendy couldn't wait to start learning how to fly and use her new wand. It was weird not having her stuff with her, but, by magic, it would be in her dorm, apparently. So Waverly had told her, anyway. It was hard not to squeal, so Wendy just went along for the ride. Even her imagination could hardly compare to this.

Wendy had met many of the third-years in Pecari during the feast, but hadn't yet met her own classmates. She wondered if there were any from a muggle background like her. Everyone looked as excited as she did to be here. She followed the prefect through the crazy maze of hedges and Wendy fancied that she heard low growling noises and saw eyes everywhere. The thrill made her shiver. She couldn't imagine getting lost in such a place, but it would be so much fun to explore.

Inside the maze, Wendy watched as the "guardian" came to life right before her eyes to let them into their common room. Wendy couldn't help but stare as she walked past it, her hand even daring to touch its cool metal briefly before pulling back quickly. Even the entire common room was so pretty and she breathed a sigh of contentment. "It's so beautiful," she whispered to no one in particular, and then turned to listen to her new roommate's question.

It was a really good idea and Wendy hoped for it to be true. Waverly had never told her anything about trips, so she guessed they would have to start it. Wendy loved hiking and exploration trips. Since she was from Phoenix, the desert, she was used to taking long hikes with lots of water and exploring grassy areas that might have snakes or something. She and her family had gone camping in the desert too and other things. This would be a piece of cake in comparison, but then again she had never dealt with magic before.

She went to the girl who had asked the question along with two twin girls and listened to them introduce themselves. She smiled at the thought that other people were willing to go along too and immediately nodded her agreement. "I'd totally want to do that too! I love hiking and exploring the grounds would totally help us learn more about it. Also, I'm Wendy Canterbury, by the way." She did a little wave to her new roommates with a smile.

19 Wendy Canterbury Me too! Me too! 245 Wendy Canterbury 0 5

Eponine Taylor

August 29, 2012 4:12 AM

Ambush, friendly meeting, no difference. by Eponine Taylor

As soon as Sara answered that the most daring of all houses did not even dare to adventure with one another, Eponine sighed dejectedly, but nodded. She decided that she would have to take the prefect's advice and form a group of friends that was as willing to explore as she was. Still, Eponine thought back to the bulletin board and wondered if suggesting a group hike there would gather her fellow Pecaris together. Sara didn't say that she couldn't create formal expeditions, after all, just that they weren't done -- yet. The only obstacle that the girl saw was that she was a first-year, and she doubted that older students would be extremely willing to follow someone so young.

'Well, where there's a will, there's a way!' Eponine thought, and she certainly had some strong will! Feeling decidedly more hopeful and still brimming with excitement, 'Ponine turned to find the dorms when she was met by two girls -- two identical twin girls, nonetheless. The girls were very easy to recognize as fellow first-years, and they introduced themselves immediately as Annabelle and Annette Pierce. "We both answer to Anne," they said. Eponine wondered whether their mother had done that on purpose once she realized the girls were completely alike, or if the similarity in names was simply because of preference. Though they would both answer to their shared nickname, Eponine was completely determined to be able to tell the twins apart by the end of their first year.

One of the two said, "We think you had a really good idea tonight, and we would be glad to help make such expeditions possible." As soon as she said that, another new student came bounding up to the three and exclaimed that the idea was great. She introduced herself as Wendy Canterbury, waving adorably.

Eponine's heart filled with gratitude and pride-- for her school, for her idea, and especially for the Pecari house. These girls seemed to exemplify the exact type of people she'd hoped to meet; they were adventurous, excited, and seemed a bit daring as well.

Puffing up her chest a bit unintentionally, Eponine replied, "Hi there! I'm Eponine, but my friends call me 'Ponine." She grinned a little there, as if letting them in on the joke that she already considered the three girls her friends. "This makes me so happy to know that there are other Pecaris who want to explore like me! I think it'd be so fun to take an in-depth look at the grounds-- plus, we'd be able to get closer and hopefully meet new people." At this statement, Eponine turned and pointed at the bulletin board. "I think that if we post a notice and formally plan some expeditions, some older Pecaris have to join. I mean, even though we're not all the same, like Sara mentioned, there have to be other Pecaris that want some adventure, right? And since we are first years, maybe we could get an older student to help us advertise and kind of sponsor us, to help bring in older people?"

0 Eponine Taylor Ambush, friendly meeting, no difference. 0 Eponine Taylor 0 5

Rupert Princeton

August 29, 2012 12:52 PM

Joining the Fun. by Rupert Princeton

The rest of the meal had been rather strange with the twins, but he decided that he liked them. They were just as strange as some of the other people he’d met and he liked that. Being ordinary was too common for the young English boy. He hadn’t been around his own peers much besides his cousins, and he was nearly bursting with the desire to meet new people. When the prefect came by to collect them, he followed her, glad to be going finally. He was eager to see the common room of a house his older brother was not a part of. He’d finally have something of his own.

Rupert wasn’t exactly bored with the tour, but he wasn’t thrilled by it either. What he really wanted to do was explore the entire place on his own, but he couldn’t do that as the group walked through narrow paths in between giant hedges. He could get lost and starve in the maze forever if he wasn’t careful. Rupert made sure to keep the password in mind even though he knew it would change in a matter of weeks. It would not do to be locked out of his common room the first day back. As they passed the suit of armour, he gave it a mock bow before following the rest of his peers in.

It was disturbing, the number of girls in his house. He wondered briefly if he would have his own dorm room to himself if there were no other Pecari boys in his year. At the moment, it didn’t look like there were any but himself. Rupert shrugged the thought off, not wanting to think of future spouses or girlfriends. Those were things his family, the older people of the family, always talked about. He was eleven, for goodness sakes, and he wanted to be eleven.

The girls began huddling together and Rup felt a bit left out. He overheard them talking about exploring the grounds and he immediately decided to jump in with them. Thoughts of Quidditch try-outs, lessons, and making friends were temporarily consumed by the thought of exploring. Maybe going out with a group of girls wouldn’t be all that bad. Rup had grown up in a house full of boys besides his mother and grandmother. It would be nice to see what it was like without the blokes.

Rupert joined the girls, listening to one of the girls speak. He caught her name as Ponine and while he thought it was a strange name, he didn’t say anything of it. His older brother certainly had a strange name in his opinion. “Mind if I join you all?” he asked after Ponine had finished speaking. “I’m Rupert Princeton,” he introduced himself to the girls, smiling. He dropped off the last bit of his introduction with his area and all since no one else seemed to be doing it. It was apparent enough from his accent that he was from Southern England. “I think exploring would be our best bet for getting into the real life of Sonora. There’s nothing like getting hands-on experience.” He looked around for the prefect and leant in before whispering, half-jokingly, “Any one up for a midnight stroll?”

40 Rupert Princeton Joining the Fun. 248 Rupert Princeton 0 5

The Anns

September 15, 2012 11:24 AM

Splendid by The Anns

As it turned out the careful positioning that was sometimes needed to prevent interesting people from wandering away from them proved unnecessary. Not only did Eponine seem happy to talk to them, but several others voluntarily came to join them. A girl calling herself Wendy Canterbury (not a name that was familiar to the twins, which made them wonder if maybe she was one of those muggleborns that Mother had warned them about) seemed possibly even more excited about hiking and exploring than the Anns themselves were. Rupert, who they had met at the Feast, wasn't far behind either.

Eponine didn't give a surname at all, so she was harder to pin down, but most higher class purebloods were programmed to provide that information when introducing themselves, so it was unlikely that, even if she was pure, she was from their social class. That wasn't quite as new, fascinating, exciting and almost illicit as having a muggleborn roommate, but it would still be a different kind of background to hear about, and that would be cool, too.

Annette and Annabelle nodded in eager agreement to 'Ponine's idea of putting up a notice on the bulletin board for organizing a group trip out. "We have colored parchment and several colors of ink," Annette offered, "so we can make it stand out."

"We have older cousins," Annabelle added, "but they're not in Pecari, so I don't know if we want to ask them to be guides. Do we want to just keep it to our House, or invite other Houses, too? Like a hiking club?" Thad and Derry had told them about some of the other clubs that Sonora had, so it couldn't be too hard to make a new one.

Then Rupert suggested a midnight stroll and the twins looked at each other, not quite sure how to respond to it. It did sound interesting, but Miss Raines had just told them there was a curfew and they weren't sure they wanted to risk getting in trouble - or lost at night in the Gardens - on their very first day. "Maybe we should explore in daylight first," Annette suggested uncertainly, but looked around at the other girls to gauge their reactions to the idea. If everyone else wanted to go, they didn't want to get left behind.

1 The Anns Splendid 246 The Anns 0 5

Wendy

September 27, 2012 7:22 PM

Some good news by Wendy

Exploring Sonora was right down Wendy's alley. She was excited for this trip, though it didn't take much to excite her. She nodded eagerly to Eponine's statement, pausing to look at Rupert as he leaned in and whispered. She giggled, but her hazel eyes still grew a little wide. Going on a midnight exploration would be awesome, only if they could get an older guide. Otherwise they'd just get lost and, seeing as it was dark outside, that would be bad news.

The, er, Anns offered to make a sign, and Wendy, who wasn't as adept in that area of creativity, smiled. "That would be awesome," she said encouragingly. She would have to get used to her peers replacing "pens" with "ink" even though Wendy herself had lots of colored markers that she had brought with her just in case. The thought of ink just spilling everywhere didn't sound too appealing, but maybe that was just her.

The girls, and boy, were wondering about guides, and Wendy brightened up. She could actually help! "My older sister is in Pecari," she told them, "and she's a third-year. I bet I could get her to give us a tour or help us explore. She has to know the campus pretty well now." It was perfect! Waverly could give them a tour, show them around, teach them the safe places to explore, and whatever places she said weren't safe Wendy would decide whether or not to explore later. She first had to get a good footing in this new magical world.

A hiking club sounded kind of fun, but boring too. "We could do hiking expeditions," she said. "I think a club might get too complicated, but I don't know too much 'bout clubs anyway." She shrugged. "I wouldn't mind a hike now and then, though. I wish we had bikes. Then we could have biking expeditions and that would be a lot faster." She smiled. Magical people had to have bicycles, right? It would be really sad if they didn't.

The twins commented on Rupert's suggestion, and Wendy agreed to an extent. "Yeah, daylight first would be good just so we don't get lost. But we should totally do it sometime after we spend a few weeks here." She smiled brightly at him, hoping that he wasn't too offended or crushed. She hated disappointing people, but concerning this, it was kind of hard not to. "So do you guys want to start doing all this stuff tomorrow? I mean, planning out the hike and stuff?"

0 Wendy Some good news 0 Wendy 0 5