CAN THE ANIMALS DIE?
Yes and no. Yes because their physical bodies actually can be killed (although they don't age in the way all other living beings do), but their spirits live on forever, essentially. On occasion, they have been known to take a hiatus from the world and sink into a hibernating state, but they are never completely dead. When they lose a body, they have the option of taking over one already alive on the planet or being reborn into the body of a newborn. Both methods use an excess amount of energy and magic, so it's not something that the animal does unless absolutely necessary. And they can only be reborn in or take the body of an animal of their species -- for a variety of reasons, but mainly because they aren't any other species, that's just the way it works.

IS THERE REALLY ONLY ONE ANIMAL OF EACH SPECIES? THERE CAN'T BE A BOY AND GIRL OF EACH?
Yes, there is, and no, there isn't. If you're looking to romance it up between a pair of animals (which is perfectly acceptable), there are several similar animals. For instance, there are many different types of cats and dogs and they breed with each other all the time. Plus, there are more than enough different species of animals to go around.

WHY DO THE HUMANS GET CERTAIN POWERS WHEN THEY ARE BONDED BY THE ANIMALS?
They receive the magic as an added perk of being bonded; because the animals use the magic to bond to them, as soon as the humans are touched by the magic they receive the ability to use it. And the type of power they receive depends on the way the magic manifests in them when they are bonded to the animal; it has less to do with the animal and more to do with the human.

DESCRIBE TO ME HOW THE ENTIRE BONDING PROCESS WORKS AGAIN.
After their previous human passes away, typically every animal starts searching for their next bonded; most often, they look for younger people (generally, people under eighteen years of age) and, depending on how young they are, they wait until the human is about to enter his or her Freshman year in high school. Once they are certain of their decision, they tell the Coordinator (they know her as the Matchmaker) who they want to bond, who then turns around and tells Lucian Academy, and they all work together to make sure the student makes it to the school. Once the students arrive at Lucian Academy (new students are typically Freshmen, although some animals choose teenagers who are any age up to Senior, although those are much less common), they learn about the animals and meet the animals they are going to bond. However, since they're not bonded until the bonding ceremony at the end of orientation week, all they can do so far as communication is very...limited. Students are told which animal they're going to be bonding, though, and that first week is just seen as a part of the process of establishing a relationship outside of the bond, which forces them into one. At the end of the orientation week, all of the students gather in the Bonding Hall, which is a huge building that even some of the larger animals can comfortably fit in, and the new students and animals are presented. The headmistress delivers a big speech about responsibility and commitment and everyone listens because it's tradition even though the returning students have heard it at least once, and then the new students and animals go into private rooms or places outside where they bond (because it's a very intimate process that many students and/or animals don't wish to share with over two hundred other people and animals), after which they all go back into the bonding hall to be presented and congratulated.

CAN A STUDENT GET PREGNANT?
Obviously, it can happen. But it's not very likely, especially since Lucian Academy takes extra precautions to keep boys and girls away from situations (on campus) that could lead to pregnancy (you know what I mean). Any two students caught in the act (and this applies for homosexual couples as well) are sent to the Dean of Discipline and receive strict punishment for their indiscretions. That said, pregnancy has happened before, but it is extremely frowned upon at Lucian Academy and most girls always take precautions if they're sexually active because they know the general attitude toward teen pregnancy at Lucian -- although, admittedly, the male half of the relationship is given the hard time of it while the female is pampered. The few girls who do find themselves pregnant are taken good care of and are offered the best that Lucian has to give as far as accommodations and help. Out of character, the owners are going to keep a tight wrap on who gets pregnant, so if that's a storyline you wish to pursue, getting permission first is an absolute MUST.

CAN A STUDENT AND A TEACHER BE INVOLVED IN A ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIP TOGETHER?
Yes, they can, it is possible. But at a school like Lucian Academy, if anyone were to find out, it would mean immediate dismissal of the teacher in question and the student would find her or himself a regular decoration in the student counselor's office. Not even rumors like that are started, because the students know how seriously the academy takes the situation and how grave the outcome could be for the teacher in question. However, if the teacher and student both take discretion to heart it could hypothetically work. Anyone who chooses to play out such a scenario must think it through; any relationship such as this wouldn't be flowers and daisies, the teacher would be under moral pressure because not only would he or she be in a position of authority over the student but would also be involved with a minor. Psychologically, that would take its toll. And why would a student want to be involved with his or her teacher? Just play it logically, if you want to play it.

IF MY CHARACTER IS A SHAPESHIFTER, CAN S/HE SLEEP IN WHICHEVER DORM S/HE WANTS?
Shapeshifters will be placed in either the girl or boy dormitory depending on which gender they were before they received their powers. For instance, if a girl becomes a metamorphagus, she will be placed in the female dormitory; if a boy becomes a polymorphagus, he will be in the male dormitory.

WHY DOES MY CHARACTER ONLY HAVE INDEPENDENT MAGIC STUDY?
Honestly, teaching a magic class for students whose powers can vary so greatly would require many more teachers than Lucian Academy can afford to employ. So instead they assign the students one period of independent study, during which students can read books at the library, practice on their own, or practice with another student. Every single student is assigned a faculty advisor who doesn't necessarily share the same powers with the student, and all students are encouraged to go to their faculty advisor when they stumble upon a roadblock, don't understand something, or just need a place to vent; students are also given a journal to write their magical progress in and are expected to write in it at least once a week. The faculty advisor is also responsible for creating a group of students who will work together to learn how to better control and understand their magic. Usually, teams consist of several upperclassmen and lowerclassmen, new and old students, although size can vary. Teams last for approximately one month, at the end of which they all participate in a field day where they are all tested on how much they have learned. After the field day, depending on their results, students are assigned to a completely new group.

WTH IS UP WITH THE QUESTION FOR MY CHARACTER TO ANSWER AFTER I HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED?
For us, it's really a way to see how well you know your character, and we're also interested to see the different types of answers different characters are going to give! Absolutely everyone has to answer one, even if you are a player who is joining your second/third/etc. character, and it doesn't effect your enrollment status (in other words, there is no right answer). The in-character reason for your character to take this seriously is because it is part of a personality survey the school sends to all new students and faculty to determine personality type and assign faculty advisors, roommates, and big brothers/sisters and little brothers/sisters. For that reason, all questions should be answered seriously, even if they are a seemingly silly question and your character seems like the type who would blow it off and be like "This is a stupid question" because it is required by the school. All answers are, however, confidential to the administration.

ALRIGHT, SO WHY ARE NONE OF THE SCIENCE/MATH/FOREIGN LANGUAGE CLASSES ELECTIVES?
There are a certain number of required courses per subject, and those are all listed on the classes page. The reason we don't specify which math/science/foreign language course are electives is because the majority of them can either be taken as an elective or as one of the classes to fulfill the graduation requirements. As far as science goes, it is typical for students to take Biology I and Physics I, although whether they take Chemistry I after that or an advanced class in Biology or Physics is up to them. In math, students typically take Algebra I, Algebra II, and Geometry, and in foreign language, most students choose one language to take somewhere between two and four years in.

SUMMER CLASSES?
Because so many students elect to stay at school over the summer breaks to be with their animal bonded, the school decided to offer summer classes. Each student may only take two during one summer (although taking one is not required if the student decides to stay on campus); because the amount of time for a class to be completed in is shorter (only the month of July is available for summer courses), classes are much longer and more difficult. Most students choose easy classes to take, although some go for the difficult ones that are offered. In the summer, class sizes tend to be smaller and students can get more personal attention from teachers. However, even though they are during the summer, they are every bit as real and grade-effecting as the classes taken during the fall and spring, so students are cautioned to only take on as much as they know they can handle.

I DON'T UNDERSTAND GPA.
For anyone living out of the states, the way we average grades here might be confusing. GPA stands for Grade Point Average, and it's a way of calculating how the student is doing overall in all of his or her classes. A student can score either an A, B, C, D, or F in a class. F is failing, D is better than failing, but a student who makes a D in a class at Lucian is required to retake it. A is the highest score a student can receive, B is considered average, and C is a low score. (This is by Lucian's standards, in any case.) Most students attending Lucian Academy make either As or Bs, although they certainly also make Cs. In computing GPA, every letter score is assigned a number as follows:
A: 4.0
B: 3.0
C: 2.0
D: 1.0
F: 0
After you have all of your grades, assign them numbers and then add them together. After you have that, take the total number of semesters the student received a grade for and divide your grade total by it. That might have been confusing so here's an example! (Provided by Asher's first semester classes; Asher is somewhat atypical in that he scores extremely high in all science and math classes and extremely low on English and history -- most students at Lucian tend to be more well-rounded because it is a prestigious school that strives to make their students more well-rounded. He was also able to take advanced science-level classes before he entered the high school level because he took a test when he was younger that determined he was smart enough for them.) Also note that each semester receives a grade, and the fall semester lasts from August-December, the spring semester from January-June and the summer semester during the month of July (if they attended summer classes at Lucian), which is why summer classes only have one grade while the others get two. Also, some classes only last for one semester (either fall or spring), so those only get one grade.
Biology I A; 4.0 (taken before Freshman year)
English I C-C; 2.0-2.0
Algebra I A-A; 4.0-4.0
Health B; 3.0
Magic Ethics and Responsibility A; 4.0
Physics I A-A; 4.0-4.0
Independent Magic Studies A-A; 4.0-4.0
World History C-C; 2.0-2.0
Art B-A; 3.0-4.0
Chemistry I A; 4.0 (summer class)
Geometry A; 4.0 (summer class)
Those are all of the classes that Asher has taken, up until this point, so we're going to add up all of the number grades he received for every semester. Altogether, they add up to 58. The number of semesters he has received a grade for is 17. So we're going to divide 58 by 17 which comes out to 3.41176... and so on. All we really need are the first three numbers, so round up the fourth and it comes out to 3.41. Alternatively, you could just leave it at 3.4 if you want.

Secondly, I want to add that you don't have to work out the classes your character has already taken -- that's just what I do cause I'm anal about detail. As long as you know what it means, you can probably make a rough guess-timate of where your character stands and that will work just fine. If you have any further questions feel free to ask on the OOC board or through the contact page because I'm sure I've managed to botch up this explanation!

ALRIGHT. SO WHAT IS THE AVERAGE GPA THEN?
At Lucian Academy, students are expected to apply themselves to their studies, and as a B is the average grade at Lucian, the average GPA of students usually wavers around a 3.0, sometimes a little more and sometimes a little less.

WHAT ABOUT ACADEMIC PROBATION?
Any student with a GPA lower than 2.4 is put on academic probation because even though a C is a passing grade, Lucian seeks to get all students to strive for that 3.0 average instead of letting their grades slip further. It's also good to note that any class a student receives less than a C in must be retaken the next semester (or during the summer).

SO IF MY CHARACTER'S PARENTS COME TO VISIT LUCIAN, WHERE DO THEY STAY?
During Family Week, most families are invited to stay in one of Mount Pleasant's hotels -- because it's the closest town to the school, and most opt to stay there, if only because of the discounts the hotels offer. Of course, the beautiful scenery that only a small town can offer are also attractions, as well as the knowledge of being in the town where a lot of animal spirit bondeds end up living after they graduate from Lucian Academy.

SO WHAT IS WRONG WITH THE OVERPROTECTIVE ANIMAL SPIRITS?
The animal spirits have existed for thousands of years -- and the great majority of them don't wait but a couple of decades at the most to find a new human to bond to. Therefore, you can imagine that they're pretty used to the mortality of humans and keeping one alive isn't their greatest priority -- whatever their goal is, whether it's the preservation of their species or raising awareness of environmental needs of the planet, no animal would hesitate to throw his human bonded in front of a bus if it meant the realisation or even just furtherment of his goals. With that in mind, it's also extremely unlikely that any animal spirit would attempt to shelter his or her bonded from the world, especially when that would do nothing for them other than delay them from reaching their goal. Animal spirits would be forcing their human bondeds to make connections and allies that will prove useful in the future and to their goal. YES, ANTISOCIAL CHARACTERS, THIS MEANS YOU TOO!

DO THE ANIMALS REALLY HAVE TO BOND TO LOTS OF PEOPLE? CAN'T MY CHARACTER BE THE SPECIAL ONE? Honestly? It's really unlikely. Most animal spirits have some kind of goal, whether it's to save their species, planet, or whatever, and the great majority of them have been bonded almost constantly since they came into existence over thousands of years ago. Any animal spirit who doesn't bond enough is looked down upon by the rest of the Supernus Bestia as a lesser and weaker inferior -- and aren't respected as deeply by the species they are supposed to be protecting as other animal spirits are by their species. Likewise, any animal spirit who doesn't devote his or her time to a just cause is looked down upon (for instance, Loki the squirrel monkey, who spends his days playing pranks and causing mischief and mayhem rather than helping his species or saving the environment, is generally looked down upon as a nuisance who is not as important/powerful/superior as the rest of the animal spirits, even though he does bond to humans pretty much as soon as his last dies).

WHY DO I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT TATTOOS?
If you're interested in having your character have a tattoo, read on, otherwise feel free to skip this question (or read if you're curious). First of all, tattoos aren't given to minors (that is, under the age of 18) unless they have parental permission (or guardian permission, whatever the case may be) -- if, however, your character received the tattoo in a place with a different law, make sure to cite that along with your application so we'll know without having to look it up ourselves. This is, of course, unless your character went to a dirty, nasty tattoo parlour where old needles are repeatedly used and the chances of risking an infection are higher, and if that's the case, you'd better come prepared with explanations and maybe a little realism thrown into the mix. Another facet of the tattoo process we want to see covered is a realistic explanation of how it was paid for -- the average sixteen year old can't pay for his or her own tattoo, and neither could parents who are dirt-poor.