New Venture Institute Casting Call

[SKJAM!]

A gnarled hand rested on the keyboard. Henrietta Hillman looked at it and sighed for lost beauty. Then she began to type again.

""--increasing the current student population. In light of recent events, I can only stress the value of safety in numbers. The budget may be tight, but I believe this is a goal worth accomplishing."

There was the buzz of the intercom, again. Principal Hillman touched the button.

"Alphabeta to see you, Principal."

"Send her on in." The letter could wait.

The chubby black girl in school uniform was waving a newspaper. "Have you seen this, Principal Hillman? They're making a movie about us, and it's all wrong!"

Henrietta took the paper. "Sit down, dear." A quick read-through of the article gave the gist of the story.

"Alphabeta, I'm afraid there's not much we can do. This movie, Sky High, may be inspired by our school, but it's obviously going to be completely different. I'll have our attorneys look into whether there's been any breach, but unless they specifically name students or teachers, there's no proof that it's meant to harm us."

The girl scuffed her heel against the carpet. "Okay, but I was kind of hoping that my life would stay out of the movies until after I graduated. If they're ripping me off, I want to know."

"In happier news, we'll be getting a couple of new students soon."

"Really? That's swell!" Alphabeta's body twisted, releasing Beta. The little girl jumped up and down, shouting "New friends! Hope they go zoom!"

Alpha, now skinny, picked up her smaller half. "Time to go, Beta. See you, Principal Hillman."

Henrietta smiled as the door closed behind them. Well, back to the authorization letter.

__ __ __

The Venture Institute campaign is looking for three new players. Two slots are open ones; these will be filled with new characters. The third slot is finding a replacement player for Titan, whose player has agreed to let stay in the campaign.

For the open slots, please send a full background in plain text format (that's .txt as an attachment.) It is not necessary to provide a stat sheet, but given the restrictive nature of the campaign construction rules, it's wise to make sure your concept can be built on the points allowed.

For Titan, please read his character sheet and background at:
http://www.globalguardians.com/chara...rsst/titan.php and write a short (100 words minimum) fiction piece starring him.

http://www.globalguardians.com/campa...einstitute.php
is the official campaign page, please read it carefully. The current active lineup is Acid Girl (acid powers), Gryphon (young Clark Kent), Infinity (living battery) and Sphere (spherical force fields.)

All entries should be sent to skjam@yahoo.com, with the submission deadline being 11:59 PM Central Time September 10, 2005.

Best of luck to all of you, and thanks in advance for participating!


SKJAM!
"Can you hear, can you hear the thunder?"

[SKJAM!]

"No, we haven't seen him," Principal Hillman answered to her caller. The teachers waited impatiently for this "emergency" call to be over.

"No. No, we haven't. There are no records of him on any incoming flights or ships. Are you quite sure? Very well then, we'll keep an eye out. Goodbye, then." Principal Hillman pressed the off button on her phone, then returned her attention to the meeting.

"That was the Dawnstars. Evidently, Kid Zoom left Europe for an appointment here, but never arrived in the United States. Most troublesome, but there's little we can do at this point. Now, let's discuss the local prospects...."

__ __ __

The following applications have been received:

?-Fast & well-armed (Ben Waddell)
Kyle-animal shapeshifter (Trevor Gunther)
Unseen-Invisibility (Nigel Cole)
Whistler-Telepath (Elizabeth Frutchey)
Thrillride-flyer (Logan Abbitt)

Titan-giant (no applications received)

If you have submitted an application and it is not on the above list, please resubmit. These and new applications should be sent to skjam@yahoo.com by 11:59 PM Central Time September 10, 2005. Once again, these applications should be in plain text format (.txt). .doc is *not* the same thing, no matter how much your word processing program may insist that it is.


Thanks,
SKJAM!

[SKJAM!]

"I've been hearing disturbing reports," began Senator Dulmon. "Reports that the teachers at Venture Institute are showing an un-American bias."

Principal Hillman frowned. She did not get along nearly as well with Senator Venture's replacement as she had with the Institute's namesake. "What do you mean, Senator?"

"This history lesson plan, for example. It's full of claims that the United States government made mistakes and committed crimes aginst, for example, Native Americans."

"Let's see." She took the plan, looked it over, and replied, "All these incidents are part of the historical record. As are those where the American government did the right thing."

"You should be instilling a sense of pride in America in those kids, not filling their minds with doubts about their country." The senator stuck his forefinger out aggressively.

Henrietta was not impressed. She and the senator both knew that he had only won office because of the mysterious death of his opponent just before the election. Under the present administration, Senator Dolmun had done poorly. Which, perhaps, was why he was supporting the election of Governor Bush to president.

"You believe that we should lie to the children? I do not. An America that admits its mistakes and strives never to repeat them will be stronger than one that whitewashes its past and will not apologize for its errors."

Senator Dolmun stood. "I see that the rot extends to the top. Good day, Principal Hillman."

"Good day, Senator. I trust you can see yourself out?" Henrietta returned her attention to the student applications.

__ __ __

Applications received so far:

?-Fast & well-armed (Ben Waddell)
Kyle-animal shapeshifter (Trevor Gunther)
Thrillride-flyer (Logan Abbitt)
Unseen-Invisibility (Nigel Cole)
Wall-crawler-spider powers (Mark Ayen)
Whistler-Telepath (Elizabeth Fratchey)

And we still need applications to take over Titan (giant.)

There are two open slots, plus Titan. The deadline to send plain text background sheets to skjam@yahoo.com is 11:59 PM Central Time, September 10, 2005.

Thanks for your attention,
SKJAM!
(Questions, comments?)

[SKJAM!]

Congratulations to:

Unseen--Nigel Cole

Wall-Crawler--Mark Ayen

and Whistler--Elizabeth Frutchey


Please subscribe to the Venture Institute ML if you have not already done so, and post your acceptance. I'll need your GGU-compliant background and character sheets as soon as possible. (Note that the campaign date is currently September 2004 so your character should have a birthdate/age compatible with that.

Since I got no qualifying applications for Titan, please move him to the NPC section of the website.

Those of you who weren't chosen might want to keep your writeups handy; you never know when another slot will open up.

Thanks to all, and let's hope the next campaign calling will get as good submissions!


SKJAM!