Brainstorming Coastal City, Virginia

[Rich McGee]

I'd be greatly surprised if Ms. Brown doesn't achieve her dream.  And maybe wind up getting recruited into some superpowered "space patrol" organization after her first mission encounters a series of highly unlikely events.  If there's anyone in that group that deserves to be a superhero it's Val.

[Mark Rand]

On 12/29/2023 at 9:42 PM, Rich McGee said:

I'd be greatly surprised if Ms. Brown doesn't achieve her dream.  And maybe wind up getting recruited into some superpowered "space patrol" organization after her first mission encounters a series of highly unlikely events.  If there's anyone in that group that deserves to be a superhero it's Val.

Val's father is a physicist, astronaut, and private pilot and she's already soloing in her own Cessna 172S Skyhawk.  The aircraft registration number on her flight bag is her Cessna's (N9988K).

Edited January 5 by Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Class hours at Woodrow Wilson High are from 7:40AM - 2:40PM.  Clubs meet after school and the auditorium is open weekends for events, plays, concerts, and for the Stage Crew to work.  Except for swim meets, swim team practices, and swimming classes, the pool is open for three hours after school, and all day weekends and holidays.  The school is ADA-accessible.  The accessible entrance is in the parking lot on Tilbury Avenue closest to Forward Avenue.  There is no school uniform.   CTE students wear the uniform for the course they’re taking.  The mascot is Dragons.  The motto is “Know something, do something, be something”.   The school colors are Green and White.

 

The high school, located at 2409 Shady Ave, was built in 1925.  The 4-story-building has a total area of 292,341 square feet.  It has the following facilities: 3 Science Labs, 18 Computer Lab Classrooms, 9 Dedicated Computer Labs, 4 Art Labs, 2 Music Labs, 16 CTE Labs, 2 Gyms, 1 Pool, 1 Auditorium, 1 Cafeteria, and 1 Library.

 

The prestige cliques are the jocks, cheerleaders, and the “popular” girls, most of which are also cheerleaders.  To the jocks you’re a wimp if you don’t play football or basketball and a poor poser if you don’t have a letterman’s jacket.  To the cheerleaders, which include the female athletes, you’re a wimp if you don’t play basketball and a poor poser if you don’t have a letterman’s jacket.  They call the girls’ swim team and Emma “mermaids”.

 

I’m populating the school with characters from pop culture and ones I make up on the fly.

 

[Rich McGee]

Really ought to point some of the Masks community to this thread.  For a game about high school superkids it's surprisingly light on high school setting material.  Of course, most people probably just adapt their own memories.

[Mark Rand]

Seymour Kaufman, Ph.D., is the principal of Woodrow Wilson High.  He is preoccupied with his duties but dryly humorous.  His usual method of detention is to assign students to the Stage Crew.  Ms. Hogarth is Principal Kaufman’s secretary.  Ms. Sybil Buchanan is the 12^th-grade assistant principal.  Mr. Gil Casey is the 11^th-grade assistant principal.  Ms. Liz McIntyre is a guidance counselor.  Ms. Mary Lou Graham is the school librarian and the Student Library Staff faculty advisor/sponsor. 

 

Ms. Carol Marcus (“Ms. Carol” or “Aunt Carol”) is the young and attractive activities director and cheerleader coach.  Unlike most, she wears a cheerleader uniform when they do and takes to the field with them.  She also drives a Spec Racer Ford in events sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America, and is a local pace car driver.

 

Every year, there’s a charity basketball game between the varsity boys’ team and a team of male teachers.  The varsity cheerleaders, including Ms. Carol, cheer for the boys while a team of female teachers cheer for the male teachers.

 

Mr. Pete Dixon teaches 11th grade American History and an accomplished private pilot.  He and Valerie sometimes talk flying.  Ms. Alice Johnson is his petite and enthusiastic student teacher.  Coach Ken Reeves, a former NBA player, who has retired due to injuries despite still being young enough (in theory) to play, is the boys’ basketball coach.  Coach Eric Taylor is the football coach and coaches the teachers basketball team.  Coach Mary Anne Kramer is the swim team coach, teaches the weekend swim classes, and is the faculty cheerleader coach.  Ms. Alicia Addams is an English teacher and the Drama Club faculty advisor/sponsor.  She also directs the plays.

Edited February 2 by Mark Rand

[Scott Ruggels]

One High School seems to be a bit  light. How about 4 total?

 

Julius Robinson Public High School. This is the oldest High School in Coastal City, graduating it's first class in 1869. Originally named Central Coast High School, it was renamed after the death of Julius Robinson in 1935. Generally a Black Majority school, it has been fully integrated since the Brown v. Board of Education decision. Many trainee teachers from Frederick Douglas University try their hand with real students here. The school these days is weak on STEM Classes, but strong in English, and trade skills, and still has a 77% graduation rate. This is in spite of endless budget fights, and a weak tax base. Their Football team has taken the State Championships 4 times since 1925, and is always a formidable opponent. The School is located at 2750 10th St, near the "Western Star", a fully land locked star fort, topped with grass, that the Highschool occasionally uses as an athletic practice field. The Highschool Building was one of the original fort administration buildings, but was since expanded as needs arose. School hours are from 9:30 Am to 3:30PM, with Athletic facility open until 5PM.

General Lucien Truscott Military Prep. What is Virginia without a military school? This School, on the north edge of town, declares it is the birthplace of leaders. It is a Private Military academy that often feeds students to the higher Service academies, but also tends to  breed steely eyed business leaders and national level Politicians. Students can be identified by their Cadet Gray, or summer Khaki uniforms and Burgundy Berets. The Facilities are strong on STEM, education, but weak on Humanities, save Military History. The faculty consists mostly of current, and retired Military Officers from the U.S. Army, and Air Force. Their sports teams are formidable but subject to an "every other year" Curse. where in even numbered years they look like championship material, and odd number years, they crumble like a sand castle. Often they will provide marchers or color guard for various parades and official ceremonies. It is rumored that several Teen Heroes are associated with the school but of course, nothing is confirmed, and the staff has no comment.  The sprawling campus surrounds a parade ground. at 24 Union Street. School Hours are from 8:00am, until 2:00pm for classroom instruction, and until 5:30 for sports and field instruction.

 

New Horizons Magnet School (Formerly Abraham Lincoln High) The school was reformed into a Charter School in 1999, and the parents taken over many of the staffing positions. Being a member of New Horizons is a family commitment once the prospective student passes the entrance exam.  Parents volunteer to help teach, clean hallways and do clerical work. They do employ accredited teachers, but since the school does not recognize the teacher's union, they pay the teachers a higher salary to ignore the AFT, and follow the specialized curriculum the parents provide through the New Horizons Program. THe Curriculum is actually a modification of a very old curriculum, stressing the teaching of classical Greek, Latin, U.S. History, Orchestral Music,  and a very thorough math progression up through Calculus. With such a focus on academics, the school has withdrawn from it's former sports association, and no longer fields a football and Basketball teams. Principal Patricia Mae Wong, and Assistant Principal Don Nguyen make sure standards are kept high, and that operations run smoothly. Students from other schools tend to refer to it as "Nerd Horizons". Students from here always look a little tired or stressed.

 

Woodrow Wilson High School  See Above

 

Because children make the best hostages, Here are a list of other schools:
Middle Schools

 

Sojourner Truth Middle School 2671 8th St.

 

Neil Armstrong Middle School  3640 S. Cameron Ave

 

 Rappahannock Middle School  340 E. 2nd  St. (Near down town.)

 

Sacred Heart Elementary and Middle School associated with St. Christopher's Church.

 

Elementary Schools

 

There are 8 public elementary schools in Coastal City and tend to be names for the street they are on. Most are built to a similar "L" shaped plan, with the offices on the short leg, and 7 classrooms on the long leg, and a grass athletic field in the center. There are between 130, and 200 students, and 15 staff.
 

[Mark Rand]

Good stuff, Scott.  Woodrow Wilson High is simply the high school closest to the Tree of Life Congregation.

[Rich McGee]

32 minutes ago, Scott Ruggels said:

Because children make the best hostages,

Did Home Alone teach you nothing?  Those little monsters are dangerous, they come in packs, and these days half of them are armed better than your henchmen.

[Mark Rand]

Another Woodrow Wilson High faculty member is Mr. Kenneth Andrews.  He teaches metal shop and the Stage Crew faculty advisor/sponsor.  They are, in fact, his home room.  The Cordettes, from Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, are the cheerleaders and “popular” girls.  Of that group, Harmony often gets assigned Stage Crew detention.  Each Stage Crew member has his or her own set of stage keys.

 

Forsythe Pendleton Jones III plays the orchestra bass drum in Orchestra 5.  Elizabeth “Liz” Cooper plays the triangle and other special effects percussion in Orchestra 5.  Wellington J. Fransworth “Spook” Spookingdorf III plays the snare drum in Orchestra 5.  In addition to their regular school gear and instruments, all orchestra students carry cases containing sheet music

 

Edited December 31, 2023 by Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Coastal City does not have any public airports within its boundaries.  The city is serviced by Washington Dulles International Airport in Dulles, Virginia, and Ronald Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia.  Dulles is the primary international airport for the Washington, D.C. region, which Coastal City is on the edge of, while Reagan National is the primary domestic airport.

 

Coastal City Airport, located two miles beyond the city limits, is a general aviation airport.  Just outside the terminal is a mailbox and a place where pets can relieve themselves.  Inside is a pay phone, water fountain where one can fill a water bottle, restrooms, a vending area, the Runway 5 Café, and a first aid station.  A car rental agency and a gas station/convenience store are across the street from the airport.

 

Outside is Hawke Air, Inc., gas pumps for 100 Low Lead Avgas and Jet-A, T-hangars, restrooms, and the base for Medstar 4, the area medical helicopter.  Light aircraft, including a biplane and gliders occupy most of the apron area, but there are also ground vehicles with light bars.

 

Edited January 1 by Mark Rand

[Rich McGee]

8 minutes ago, Mark Rand said:

Inside is a pay phone...

In 2023?  How has it not been stolen as an antique, or at least vandalized for the sheer novelty of it?  Bet the convenience store carries charger cords and maybe burner phones, though.

 

13 minutes ago, Mark Rand said:

Light aircraft, including a biplane and gliders occupy most of the apron area, but there are also ground vehicles with light bars.

What, no superhero vehicles for the folks without a suitable HQ to park them in?  We aren't all millionaire playboys, y'know.

[Mark Rand]

3 minutes ago, Rich McGee said:

In 2023?  How has it not been stolen as an antique, or at least vandalized for the sheer novelty of it?  Bet the convenience store carries charger cords and maybe burner phones, though.

 

What, no superhero vehicles for the folks without a suitable HQ to park them in?  We aren't all millionaire playboys, y'know.

Any superhero vehicles here would be considered light aircraft.  The payphone may've been occasionally vandalized.  Airport management has tried to have it removed, but, so far, the phone company hasn't budged.

[Mark Rand]

I forgot that Hawke Air, Inc. has one aircraft on the flight line that's not considered a light aircraft.  It's a Douglas DC-3, and it's still in use.  Also, they have both regular and T-hangars.  One regular hangar is used by their mechanic.

Edited January 1 by Mark Rand

[Scott Ruggels]

Justice Incorporated material. 
 

the 316th Coastal Artillery Battalion was raised in 1910, and they acquired the island Star forts over the next few years. By 1924, the forts were cleaned up, and the centers were paved to accept platforms for the 13 in. Disappearing guns. These would later be replaced with 16in. Battleship gins in 1939. The overlapping field of fire from the Star forts made the approach to the quays formidable. 
 

With the war on Europe launching the following August, two more Units were raised, a battalion of Black Soldiers for working the docks, The 117th Logistics,  and later a white artillery unit, The 32nd Field Artillery that trained with the 316th.  In 1916 shipped out to France. The 32nd Field Artillery and started training on The French 75.  The 116th settled into the Ports and would take shipments off the freighters, and reconfigured for the French railroads, so goods could me shipped to The front. Having access to the arteries of war production mean t that scroungers get first pick and a certain sergeant, Tiberius "Ty" Jackson, became the individual that officers, and aides de Camp would approach to acquire specialized uniform items, furniture, and Whiskey from  the U.S.  Sergeant Jackson also got into trading with the  British, and French Colonial troops.  Soon he built a small trading empire. This experience would hold the Sergeant in good stead, for when he returned to the United States, just as The Volstead Act would become Law on January First, 1920. So while the116th was supplying Each 12,000 man division with 1000 tons of supplies a day, (An equivalent of a 50 car train) The good sergeant's skim, allowed him to build up quite a list of contacts, and favors from U.S. Division leadership all over the front. Sgt. Jackson was quite careful to not touch anything involving cash or soldiers pay, and the books were spotless. He would sit in his Calais Hotel room dispensing his favors and wisdom to his customers, and ordering his staff to investigate the shipping manifests of the freighters coming from al over the free world.

 

The 36th was not as fortunate. After training, the unit was deployed, and soon fell victim to German counterbattery fire. Experience gained  from the beating  prevented the unit from being disbanded and the men distributed into other Field Artillery, but their return to the U.S> was a bit of a somber affair. A reserve Artillery Unit from Kansas figured out how to avoid getting pasted by the counterbattery fire, and that knowledge spread through the artillery professional bulletins.

 

The Armistice was a compete surprise, and the massive Allied offensive in the spring of 1919 never happened. The 36th was quickly rotated home, with their guns. The 116th stayed until late 1919, before being sent home. Sergeant Jackson attempted to re-enlist, but the dramatic shrinkage of the U.S. Army aside from the Siberian Expedition. it look like the Sergeant would be back in Civy Street by the beginning of 1920. However, he was still a customer oriented entity, and requests for now hard to obtain tipple began to be something Ty Jackson was able to apply his well honed talents to.

 

At first, Ty paid Fishermen to meet with freighters sailing between Canada and the Caribbean. This resulted in the coastguard emplacing a station on the waterfront, which it's headquarters building is still there to this day. TY then changed his tactics. where boats would go out at night and stash liquor bottles in crab pots, and the next morning another ship recovers it fro specially marked crab pots. With the changes in tactics and the expansion of his illicit business, Ty made enough to purchase one of the star forts. Once purchased the gun pit was roofed over in concrete, and there was a short observation tower added.  The fort was converted into a speakeasy, but now possessed the largest dance floor on the east coast, dough of Manhattan.  The New Stellar Club was a success, with the All Stars Orchestra providing music, and it's Isolation made it nearly raid proof,. there being only two successful raids, one of which being conducted by a "Man of Mystery".  Generally, though, at the sound of a certain whistle, the band would start playing the William Tell Overture, and the patrons would run for their boats, and scatter all over the Chesapeake.

 

Success bred jealousy, and other opportunists  tried to move in on Ty's successful business.  After an attempt on his life, that resulted in he death of his clerk typist, he hired Black combat veterans, also acquiring a larger armory, and acquiring a circus strong man known as Bobo.  Not nearly as volatile as New York and Chicago, it saved TY from the attention of the F.B.I. until in the very late 1920s, but by then the well Dressed Ty, and his immense bodyguard Bobo, were untouchable, and he had moved most of his funds into legitimate businesses. Jackson's Furniture on S. Beach Blvd. is one of them, curently operated by Ty's great grandson. But in the 20's things were fluid, with a lot of conflict, and property destruction. By Ty had a lot of the police in his pocket, and his general attitude of givng the people what they wanted kept the public on his side.  The few times he was in court, he was able to convince juries to let him off. He extended his supply chain to moon shiners deeper in Virginia, and the Carolinas.  With the end of Prohibition in January of 1933, Ty shifted his business, to Numbers, and gambling, as well as legitimate businesses.  The Stellar Club continued as an exotic night club, but the attendance slipped off as the Great Depression began to bite into the local economy. Ty used the pause in violence as a chance to build up his image as a pillar of the community.



 

Edited January 7 by Scott Ruggels

[Mark Rand]

More high school stuff.

 

All prestige cliques refer to female swim team members as “mermaids” and male ones as “merboys”.  They also call the Drama Club, Stage Crew, choir, orchestra, and band members “losers”.  Additionally, when the play Peter Pan is performed, Jenny Wren is always listed as playing Tinker Bell.  This joke, from the original production, helps with the mystique of the fairy character.

 

At Woodrow Wilson High, despite her thick glasses, Drama Club member Judith “Judy” Harris has been nicknamed “Gypsy” by the “popular” girls because she often wears belly dance-related tee shirts and sweatshirts.  She and Tom Cochran, her husband-to-be, are sometimes called “love birds”, and are skilled dancers.

 

When planning to work on the auditorium lighting after school, Valerie Brown wears a Space Camp flight suit.  This may be the reason the “popular” girls have dubbed her “Space Girl”.

[Mark Rand]

Hawke Air, Inc. is owned by Caroline Hawke, who is also the manager of Coastal City Airport, and her daughters, Joanna and Caitlin.  All are commercial pilots and certified flight instructors.  Caitlin is also a certified airframe and powerplant mechanic.

 

As with all airports, there is a beacon to mark the airport’s location at night.  It flashes green and white, indicating that it’s a civilian land airport, and is mounted on a metal tower painted in alternating bands of white and international orange.

[Mark Rand]

Lancaster County has a number of rivers and bays, all of which are crossed by bridges.  If a bridge’s “clearance below”, which is measured from the surface of the water to the underside of the bridge at the chart datum Mean High Water (MHW), is 45-feet or above, it’s a normal bridge.  Otherwise, it’s either a lift-type drawbridge (used if it carries regular or light-rail traffic) or a two-leaf bascule drawbridge (if it carries regular traffic only).

 

The Sixth Street Bridge is a two-leaf bascule drawbridge.  The tenders live, and work, in a county-owned building.  Christmas “Chrissy” Snow is the 7 AM to 3 PM tender.  Tannis Archer is the 3 to 11 PM tender.  Cindy Snow is the 11 PM to 7 AM tender. 

Edited January 2 by Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Coastal City first appeared in the 3E module Atlas Unleashed, where it was a generic coastal city.

[Mark Rand]

Memorial Park, from the 5E book Champions Battlegrounds, is one of Coastal City's parks.  The New Urbana Galleria, from the same book, is just outside the city.

[Scott Ruggels]

Golden Age of Champions stuff

 

In July of 1939, U-177 cruised very slowly into the Chesapeake, and made a broad turn to starboard, eventually ending up moored in Washington D.C.. This was said to update the Code machines at the German Embassy. It was also to map the Chesapeake using a sound based Echo locator, to produce unusually accurate underwater maps, and deliver several spies into the U.S.  The Submarine resupplied with food, water and fuel, and left two weeks later, taking it's sweet time, almost like a tourist observing the Chesapeake. It paused to take notice of the star forts around Coastal City, but soon left, returning to Germany. September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, and the war began.  The United States maintained an outward show of neutrality, allowing ships of all nations to pass, and dock, but after the sinking of the U.S.S. Reuben James (DD 245) Access to U.S. ports began to be tightened up. Still the occasional German ship and even a couple more submarines were spotted in the Chesapeake. The U-172 was attacked by a group of costumed Mystery Men operating from a fast boat, near the Stellar Club on the evening of November 8th, 1939, to minimal effect on either side, though the Submarine's deck gun fired a total of four rounds, before the Sub dove, and vanished into the murk. Even with the shallowness of the Chesapeake, the advanced charts allowed the submarines to often slip away from their pursuers, until the declaration of war on December 8th, 1941, then the Submarine Activity moved out into the greater Atlantic, and the Submarines preyed upon the shipping along the Atlantic coast.

 

In 1943, there was a fire caused by a dropped cigarette, at the Stellar Club. THe fire did not do a lot o damage that caused a panic that left 6 people trampled to death in the panic to leave, foreshadowing the Coconut Grove Fire in New Jersey a few months later.  The subsequent investigation forced Ty Jackson to sell the club, but with out his golden touch, the club closed in 1946. and remained out of the public consciousness, until it was exposed at a Viper Nest in the mid 1970s. Also by 1943, radar  and aviation technology became advanced enough to turn the tide of the submarine warfare to the allies favor, and sinkings along the coast diminished to only those caused by bad weather or operator error. In 1945, the Coast guard station got its first Helicopter, a Sikorsky HNS-1 Horsefly.  This was supplemented by an HOS1 the following year, and the Helicopters became active in Search and Rescue  through most of the central Chesapeake.

 

 

Edited January 7 by Scott Ruggels

[Mark Rand]

The Coastal City Zoo and Aquarium is based on the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium.  Claire McCauley, DVM, from The Beasts Are on the Streets, is the zoo’s Director of Animal Health.  Alicia Sturgeon, DVM, and Debbie Hahn, DVM, are two of her associate veterinarians.  Ginger Galvaneck is the chief veterinary technician.  There is always at least one veterinarian and one veterinary technician on duty.  Claire has a way with animals and they instinctively trust her.

  

Edited January 10 by Mark Rand

[Mark Rand]

Coastal City is in the Washington, D.C. radio and television market.

[Mark Rand]

On 12/29/2023 at 10:07 PM, Mark Rand said:

Val's father is a physicist, astronaut, and private pilot and she's already soloing in her own Cessna 172S Skyhawk.  The aircraft registration number on her flight bag is her Cessna's (N9988K).

As an additional comment, if Val's father is an astronaut, the family would probably live in the Huston, Texas, area, not Coastal City, Virginia.  At least one of her other relatives has to be an astronaut.

[Mark Rand]

I'm considering moving Coastal City to the tip of the Delmarva Peninsula.

[Mark Rand]

Valerie's uncle, David, a physicist and NASA astronaut, gave her a ride in both his Gulfstream G280 and one of NASA's Northrop T-38 Talon two-seat supersonic jet trainers.

Edited April 20 by Mark Rand