"Great, it looks like we're ready to begin." The reaper boogeyman rose from his seat and walked around his desk, standing in front of it to survey the gathered students. "Good day to all of you. My name is Saebel. Some of you may remember me from last year. With me today is Aodh -- you may have seen him around with me earlier while we were getting settled in."
The bogeman Saebel was talking to before the class began raised his hand and gave a lazy wave. There was something about his demeanor that suggested he wasn't quite a reaper, and yet there were no obvious characteristics about him that suggested his race. He was, however, wearing a rather fetching green cloak. After a moment he pulled out a skellyphone and soon became rather preoccupied with its small screen.
"He and I are members of the Boogeymen. Some teachers at this point will probably stop and ask how many of you know what a Boogeyman is and what we do and sorts of other questions that will go in one ear and out the other. Therefore, we're going to skip all that and go straight to the --"
"In one ear and out the other part?" Aodh chimed in.
"Ye- no! Not at all!" Saebel flushed, pointing an accusatory finger at Aodh. "It's going to go in one ear, hopefully bounce around a bit, then out the other." The reaper turned back to the students, meeting their looks and murmurs with a shrug. "Let us move on."
Saebel took a deep breath. "The very word "boogeyman" came from the Human World. Humans use the word to describe imaginary creatures they themselves created in order to scare their scarelings into submission. They could be anything, be anywhere, and do just about anything. There is no set appearance for a boogeyman; thus we took the word for our own use."
"A Boogeyman in Halloween does what is expected of them. We are the ones people turn to for help. We do not charge for our services, nor do we expect compensation in return. We uphold and enforce the law. We provide aid to those who seek it. We defend Halloween, we fight for Halloween, we are Halloween."
Saebel studied the students quietly, giving time for his words to sink in. "I am going to be honest," he continued, "Not every Boogeyman does as a Boogeyman should. Like in any other field, in any other profession, there is corruption. There are those who abuse the power they wield, and there are those who inflict more harm than good. There are even those who claim to be a Boogeyman but are not. By coming here, I hope you will learn enough to protect yourselves. No matter what anyone else tells you, it will always come down to what you decide to do yourselves when push comes to shove. The most myself or anyone else can do for you in life is to give you advice. It will always be your choice, whether to listen or slack off, or whether to follow orders or rebel. I will not make your choices for you. I am merely going to provide you with information; it will be up to you as to what you wish to do with it."
He gestured towards the door. "As always with my class, if you grow tired of me you are more than welcomed to leave at any point. My only request is that you enter and leave quietly."
"Now with that out of the way," Saebel continued, his tone growing lighter in comparison to the serious topic earlier. "Let us begin with identification. As you may have noticed, Aodh and myself both wear cloaks. The previous gym professor Red also wore a cloak the same color as her name. Cloaks, however, are a fashion statement. Not everyone who wears a cloak is automatically a Boogeyman. While we all wear one, it isn't uncommon to see a non-Boogeyman in one."
"If you are approached by someone claiming to be a Boogeyman, and they're wearing a cloak? You are within your rights to ask to see their identification." Saebel held up both of his hands and concentrated, pulling it apart to reveal a badge. "This is a Boogeyman's ID card. It will contain their name, rank, general job description, and more importantly? The check. If you'll notice the Boogeyman symbol here," He helpfully pointed to it as he spoke, "The color will match the color of the Boogeyman's cloak. If it does not? It is an imposter. In addition, if you hold your thumb over it and say "ID," it will turn black and the card itself will begin to glow. If you hand the card back to the Boogeyman, the symbol should turn to the color of their cloak. If neither of these things occur, then it is a fake."
Saebel walked towards the desk in the corner of the room and handed it to the student seated there, demonstrating the effects he just described before handing it back so the students could take a closer look at it. On the other side of the room, Aodh rose and produced his own card and demonstrated as well before also passing it around. "I would like to mention at this point that there is a hefty bounty on anyone posing as a Boogeyman," Aodh chimed in. "If you ever encounter someone you can identify as a fake, you are well within your rights to attack and drag the sorry no-good scammer in. The lowest bounty I've ever seen on one has been... what, 500 or so silver?" Aodh shrugged. "Anyway. By the look of all of you, fighting one shouldn't pose a problem. If you can knock'em unconscious, you can give the real Boogeymen a call. Once they arrive on the scene and can confirm that it's a fake, they'll give you the bounty on the spot."
"Of course, if it turns out to be someone who isn't an imposter then you could face some serious fines and time in jail," Saebel added. "It's best to check and confirm. If the Boogeyman refuses to show you his ID, then ask for his cloak. Aodh, can you fetch me that trash can? Thank you."
The reaper reached up and removed his cloak and began to fold it. "Some of you may have noticed that my cloak is different from the one I had last year. Last year, mine was a white-blue gradient whereas now it's a solid light blue. You see, there's something rather... unique about Boogeymen cloaks. When you first join, you're given one. If you make it past training, you're taught how to make it."
Saebel frowned, then shook out his cloak and began to refold it. "I don't mean 'make' as in learn how to sew it together. These cloaks are made from your very own Fear. Your Fear determines what color or colors it is, its style, length, what have you. Sometimes the cloak they give you is the same color as the one you end up creating yourself. Other times it's completely different. Now then." He dropped the cloak into the trash can Aodh placed at his feet. "If you're undead, kindly please do not be alarmed. Aodh, will you do the honors?"
"With pleasure," the taller boogeyman rumbled, pulling a small can out from under his own green cloak. The contents were poured onto the cloak. Those with sharp noses and towards the front would discover the unmistakeable sharp sting of gasoline began to fill the room. Aodh shook the can until nothing was left inside before dropping it down into the trashcan. Next came a box of matches. A match was lit and dropped down before both Boogeymen scurried back from the resulting fireball that belched upwards towards the ceiling, scorching it.
Thankfully the fire alarm didn't go off. Aodh approached the bin and turned it over, shaking out the ashes. "Tah-dah! No more cloak. Saebel?"
The reaper nodded towards his companion and reached up, grasping at something invisible in the air. He pulled, taking a half-step back and spinning. From where he pulled, a cloak formed in the air: light blue and in Saebel's size. The Boogeyman spun and clasped it back into place. "There. All Boogeyman's cloaks are made from their own personal Fear. Only a Boogeyman learns how to do this. I'm sure with enough training anyone else can do it too, but can anyone else do this?" He held up his hands and began to seemingly pull several objects from the air: his ID card, a skellyphone, a shiny badge that looked like a pentagram, and what looked to be various pieces of equipment. As each piece was pulled, it was tossed towards Adoh who began to arrange them on Saebel's desk like an exhibit.
Finally Saebel finished and used a corner of his cloak to wipe at his pale face. "Whew! Okay. As you can see, I just summoned just about all of my equipment. Some of this stuff is made from my own Fear, like my bells." He gestured to the bells that were on his person. He had several belts: two crossed his chest in an "X," and another two made a smaller "X" around his waist. Both belts were weighed down by bells that jingled and chimed softly with his movement. "Others are pieces of equipment I share with my squad."
He held up his hand to forestall the obvious question. "A squad is your group. Let me explain how the Boogeymen work. There is no obvious structure: we are a collective group without rankings. Any perceived "rank" is merely a personal preference and is perceived by an individual. How fancy do they look? How much experience do they have? How strong are they? While it is expected for you to look up to your seniors, like I said earlier, the choice is entirely your's. If, however, you decide to sass off to someone and they take offense, it is their choice to take whatever action they choose against you."
"Following that, there are no set duties," Saebel added. "Every Boogeyman can decide for themselves what they wish to do. Do you wish to fight fires? Scout other worlds? Harvest Fear? Regulate Fear harvestings? Look into crime? Whatever you wish to do, chances are there is a squad working on that field that you can hook up with for training. I personally consider myself to be a scientist of sorts. My specialty is in regeneration: both on the field and off, though mostly on."
Aodh waved for attention. "Transporter here. I do mostly heavy lifting and defensive work. I've been working with Saebel on the field for a long time and decided to follow him here when he was offered the position. Prior to this, we worked a lot in Christmastown."
Saebel nodded. "Becoming a Boogeyman gives you many opportunities, and many freedoms usually not offered to other positions. Headquarters does provide food and board, but what usually turns many away is the pay and work. Being a Boogeyman takes a lot of work, and you usually don't get much in the way of pay. But if you can overlook that... The people you meet, the places you see? I'm personally glad I became one."
The reaper leaned against his desk, adding, "And I still am one, actually. Once you're a Boogeyman, you're considered a Boogeyman for life. I still help out in my free time here, just as Red did. If you become one and decide that you don't want to be one anymore, the most that happens is that you become unable to summon your badge, cloak, and any other Boogeyman-related items. If at any point you come back? You regain your Boogeyman skills. Y'see, the Boogeymen are like... a giant family. Yeah, we've got our problems. But your squad's always got your back."
Saebel grinned, then sighed. "Well. I believe I may have rambled on for long enough. Does anyone have any questions for myself or Aodh? It is rather difficult to accurately describe what the Boogeymen do and what we stand for given our organization, however I do hope that I have given all of you a better idea."
OOC
Question and answer time! Now is a perfect opportunity to ask any Boogeyman-related question to either Saebel or Aodh. If you're going to ask a question, please QUOTE ME and put your question in bold blue (if asking Saebel) or bold green (if asking Aodh). If you're asking both, please put it in bold red so I see it.
Otherwise you guys are more than welcomed to interact with each other/post reactionary solos/etc. In order to earn two growth points from this, you must:
1) Ask a question
2) get said question answered
3) write the minimum of 800 words.
This class will also always be "on going" so if you get a character, say, two months from this post? You are more than welcome to join in!
