Earth Zoology -- Pre-History Edition, Tuesday, Period 2

[livingartifact]

The class met up in the Danger Shop, as it would every day of the session. Upon entering, the students would find themselves in a completely blank space. Nothing but blank, white light, as far as the eye could see. There were no shadows, no angles; the only thing that told the students there was a floor was the feeling of it beneath their feet. It was an entirely empty canvas, and in the middle of it stood Jenkins, a tall old man wearing a three piece suit and a jaunty bowtie, and a smile.

"Welcome, students," he greeted. "I am Jenkins, and this is Earth Zoology — Pre-history Edition. If you are not in the correct classroom . . . well, I hope you'll stick around anyway. The school has provided you all with a marvelous contraption, capable of replicating fantastic landscapes and creatures. You quite simply cannot experience prehistoric life on this planet like this anywhere else."

He looked around the blank space with a thoughtful, pleased expression, then looked back at the students. "And no, it's not broken, currently. The first week is for introductions, and since I suspect you all might be a touch distracted when we get started with our first lesson, I thought we ought to get those out of the way before I hit 'start'. I see some familiar faces, but most of you I haven't yet had the pleasure of meeting, so if you would be so kind as to let me know your name and what brings you to class today, I think that will suffice."

He gestured to one of the students at random to get them started, and once the pleasantries were dispensed with, pulled a small, blocky remote from his pocket (the Danger Shop's controls had a somewhat flexible interface, and he liked it blocky remotes), and pressed the large red button in the center of it. The blank white expanse around them shivered and reformed into a strange, desolate landscape, full of towering rock formations under a dull, dim sun.

( Yeah, this got long )

Arts & Crafts, Tuesday First Period

[stickitupmyjinx]

A sex worker and a mercenary with a skin condition were definitely just who you wanted to teach arts and crafts, right? Or at least, they were just who the school administration wanted. Lucky for you guys!

"Hi, guys," Vanessa said with a little wave. "I'm Vanessa, and this is Wade, and I think calling us Ms. Carlysle and Mr. Wilson gives us way more gravitas than we deserve." Look, she was just being honest here. "And this is Arts & Crafts! We totally forgot to buy materials, but luckily the school has plenty of glitter, and we found a bunch of spent shell casings in our apartment! So we're going to make...uh, what are we going to make?" Wade? Any ideas here?

"Art. We're making... art," he said, spreading his hands as though to illustrate the artiness if it all. "Also we should know your names. But I promise you all that I won't remember a single one of them. "

"I promise that I...will try," Vanessa said. "Wind chimes? Whatever. Just make art. And tell us your names and whatever. You know how introductions and glue sticks work." At least she hoped they did.

Baby's First Fieldwork [Tuesday, Period 3]

[jedigrammarians]

Aphra had told the students to meet her out by the back of the dorms, where they'd find a marked off grid that looked a little like a sandpit. If by a little you meant a lot. There was also a table with a toolkit laid out for each student.

"Hey, kids!" Aphra definitely seemed cheerful. "If we haven't had class together before, I'm Doctor Aphra and you're going to be learning how to be proper real world archeologists, on actual digs and everything, but since I'd like to keep what my reputation intact, first you're going to learn how to properly act on a proper dig. With delicacy and care." How they were going to learn that from Aphra of all people...

"This here is your dig site, which I've seeded with valuable cultural artifacts." It was mostly bottle caps and assorted knick-knacks, they'd need a couple of centuries to become valuable cultural artifacts. "Your job is to find something, then introduce yourself to the class and explain what you've found. Remember, if you don't know what something actually is, the words 'ritual object' are your friend."