the town
(You don't have to read this whole thing at once, this is meant as a reference post where you can learn more about the town and various locations.)
Hippocrene Falls is a small town somewhere in the US. The weather is always as you imagine it would be in each season: there's snow in the winter, lots of sunshine in the summer, flowers in the spring and golden leaves in the autumn. Its size makes it a charming, peaceful place, while its location and the fact that the next town over is a couple of hours away mean that it has all sort of comforts. Hippocrene Falls has its own emergency services and a public school across the town from Whooton.
There are no shopping centres and no large stores; however, you can find almost anything you want in its small businesses. Here is a list of locations:
Restaurants and Bars
Epicuria
The most expensive restaurant in town, Epicuria requires reservations to be made in advance and has a strict dressing code. Its ever-evolving menu is trendy-meets-classic, with dishes such as lobster with carrot and chamomile, squid with sloe berries and white currant, wild duck with beet and beech, and fluke sashimi in buttermilk. There are also vegetarian options on the menu, like butternut squash with pear ravioli in rosemary sauce. They offer a wide arrange of expensive wines and fantastic desserts. The decoration is minimalistic but chic and the waiters are likely to present your food with some dramatic flourishes.
Bob's Noodle Bar
This is a small hole-in-the-wall place, with barely any place to sit down. For this reason, most people prefer to take away their order and eat at home, although you mind find some students looking for a quick dinner before a night out. Most of the menu is very cheap, while other options are slightly more expensive but still very affordable. The options include Thai green curry noodles, Yakisoba noodles, and oyster sauce noodles. You can also buy some beer while you're there, and if you eat in, there are large bottles of soy sauce on every table. There's a flashing orange sign on the window and its large containers of cheap but stronge coffee are also a staple among hard-partying students.
Lava
Hippocrene Fall's sushi restaurant. You can order from the menu or eat from the conveyor belt. On Saturdays there's also an all-you-can-eat buffet for $15. Its vegetarian sushi options make it a very popular destination for birthday dinners.
Il Convivio
A welcoming, small Italian restaurant. There's a wide array of pastas and pizzas, including seasonal and weekly exclusives. It's not very expensive, and if you ask nicely and bring your own boxes, there's a take away option. There are some recognisable wines, but most of them come in dusty, unmarked bottles.
Pizzazilla
The local pizza place, with lots of red plastic everywhere. It has a large selection of pizzas, including a "build your own pizza" option. It also offers a few cheap pasta dishes and a very fast a delivery service. You can always listen to some 80s and 90s music playing in the background, and the place includes an arcade area with several games and a claw machine.
Atomic
A 50s-style diner located close to the outskirts of town and the type of place where you can order an old fashioned malt or a milkshake with your food. The menu is known, not only for all the types of hamburgers it offers, but also for its pies. Examples include Dutch chocolate, coconut custard, chocolate and cherry chiffon, pink lemonade, tomato with onion and fennel seeds, black bean and pecan. There are also seasonal specials, like peaches with cream in the summer and sweet potato in the Autumn. Cake is another big selling point. It's open 24 hours a day, so it's not unusual to find students ordering large stacks of pancakes (have we mentioned there are all sorts of interesting toppings like orange-pineapple?) after a night out.
Ned's Place
This is a small bar where people can sit down and talk over some beers and onion rings. There are some comfortable, slightly smelly booths that are ideal for groups of friends, as well as regular tables and seats at the bar. It holds regular karaoke nights and stand-up comedy sessions, and Ned is always willing to be the judge in everyone's drunken bets.
(no name)
This place is only open to those in the know. In fact, nobody's quite sure if it's entirely legal. On weekend nights and other nights when party-goers are expected, it opens for business -- but you wouldn't know. If you knock on the right door, you will gain entry after the owner has made sure you're trusthworthy. Once inside, you'll find a small kitchen-like room where you can buy various types of croissants and pretzels. It's perfect if you get hungry on a night out, but don't want to go all the way to Atomic.
Cafés
Bluebell
A small, quirky bakery with lots of bright colours. The furniture is all mismatched and consists of cute wooden chairs, pouffes, and old armchairs and sofas. There are several kinds of cupcakes and muffins, as well as tea. The place is co-owned by Maddie, a friendly, out-going young woman, and Ginger, a cat who is most often found sleeping curled up on an armchair.
The Idiot Café
The local hang-out for intellectuals, The Idiot doesn't have much in the way of looks. In fact, it's rather plain and shabby and not very well-lit. However, there's a bookshelf filled with obscure books you can borrow, and a fireplace that is perfect for Winter-time philosophical discussions. The coffee isn't good and it mostly serves one type of somewhat strong but oily coffee (the owner will begrugingly make you other kinds, though). There are regular open-mic nights for spoken poetry and long essays.
Café Constant
A large, well-lit café with an Art Nouveau decoration, Café Constant offers different kinds of pastries and coffees, and there are occasional music nights in which someone plays classical or jazz music on the piano.
Venetia
A cosy tea place that serves every tea you can imagine, like "strawberries with cream" tea or more common options like plain green tea. There is also a hookah area with several different flavours you can choose from.
Panache Tea Room
This is the kitchiest tea room in existence, the kind where you can find doilies and cups with pictures of kittens. On special occasions, the owner goes all-out to decorate it, and if you tell her it's your birthday, you'll get a free cake and a 25% discount on a large tin of biscuits.
Entertainment
Green Box Theatre
The Green Box is THE theatre in Hippocrene Falls. Most new movie releases can be found here, along with occasional concerts and cultural events.
Reel Theatre
This isn't quite a theatre, it's practically a large basement turned into one. The seats are always musty and there is nowhere to buy food (but you can bring your own). It subsists mostly on showing foreign and indie films, and there's a student discount.
The Drive-In
The drive-in is open mostly when it's warm, but it also holds a few screenings in the autumn and winter. It plays a wide selection of old and relatively new movies, classics and indie films. If you don't have a car, there's a small area with tables.
Kalos
An art gallery. There are two rooms, one devoted to more traditional-looking art, and another for modern art -- so there's something for every taste. Once in a while, there are very exclusive openings. Kalos encourages young talents to apply to exhibit their works there, so you might want to try it if you have some artistic skills.
Shops
Applesauce's
A family-run shop that takes up three whole floors. Their ground floor is devoted exclusively to children's books. The second floor offers artisanal and classic toys. The third and final floor has all kinds of sweets, from tins of homemade fudge to modern staples like sour worms.
Hallowed
This is the go-to shop for every formal occasion, or for when you feel like splurging. It sells various kinds of formal attire, as well as designer handbags and perfumes. There is also a small area where you can find expensive vintage clothes and accessories.
Grenouille Verte
A cheap, second-hand clothing shop. Students can sell their old clothes here, or find jeans from the 80s, skirts from the 50s, or more recent used clothes. It also sells shoes and various kinds of accessories. There is a small room in the back where there are retro, mostly kitschy trinkets like lawn ornaments and lava lamps.
Dust
Hippocrene Falls very own used-book shop. It's not very orderly, but there is a huge, somewhat peculiar selection -- from first-editions of classic books to pulp paperbacks.
The Curio Cabinet
A shop run by a friendly elderly couple who will help you find anything you ask. And you might need their help, too, because the shop is packed full of boxes and cabinets of various trinkets, most of them old. Some are valuable, others not so much, but you will likely find it here. There's a small section where a special selection of esoteric items can be bought.
Edgeworth & Cliffside Antiques
The difference between this shop and The Curio Cabinet is that it's far more orderly and upscale. It's more expensive, but if you're willing to spend some money, you can buy sets of antique china and Victorian furniture.
Markets & Fairs
There's a small covered market close to the town centre, where you may buy produce and various trinkets. During the summer months, there's an open-air market. Every Sunday afternoon, when the weather is good, there's a crafts and used goods fair in one of the town squares. There are also brief, seasonal ones like a Christmas market.
There is also a small supermarket, a pharmacy, a flower shop, and a jeweller, among others.
Accomodation
High Road Bed & Breakfast
A small, family-run B&B. The building itself was built in the 1920s and it's made of red brick, with railings and window accents in dark brown wood. Its ivy-covered facade is particularly charming, as its garden -- which is entirely fenced in, with flower beds around the left side and paths of grey stone snaking between them. It's run by Harriet's parents.
Other Locations
The Lake
This isn't the school's lake, but a larger one on the other side of Hippocrene Falls. In the summer, people can swim on the shores or rent rowboats. In the winter, the lake often freezes over, and it's possible to go ice skating.
The Cemetery
A large cemetery located relatively close to the school. The area closest to the entrance has more recent graves, but if you wander around enough, there are much older graves, some covered with ivy and others in a better condition.
There's also a total of three parks: a larger one where everyone goes, a smaller one close to the lake, and an old abandoned park. Religious students can attend one of the various churches found here, and students interested in art and architecture may want to visit the old Catholic and Anglican churches -- St. Aloysius' and Trinity, respectively.
If you would like to create a location for the game, please ask us first! We will probably allow it, but we want make sure things fit in.
Hippocrene Falls is a small town somewhere in the US. The weather is always as you imagine it would be in each season: there's snow in the winter, lots of sunshine in the summer, flowers in the spring and golden leaves in the autumn. Its size makes it a charming, peaceful place, while its location and the fact that the next town over is a couple of hours away mean that it has all sort of comforts. Hippocrene Falls has its own emergency services and a public school across the town from Whooton.
There are no shopping centres and no large stores; however, you can find almost anything you want in its small businesses. Here is a list of locations:
Restaurants and Bars
Epicuria
The most expensive restaurant in town, Epicuria requires reservations to be made in advance and has a strict dressing code. Its ever-evolving menu is trendy-meets-classic, with dishes such as lobster with carrot and chamomile, squid with sloe berries and white currant, wild duck with beet and beech, and fluke sashimi in buttermilk. There are also vegetarian options on the menu, like butternut squash with pear ravioli in rosemary sauce. They offer a wide arrange of expensive wines and fantastic desserts. The decoration is minimalistic but chic and the waiters are likely to present your food with some dramatic flourishes.
Bob's Noodle Bar
This is a small hole-in-the-wall place, with barely any place to sit down. For this reason, most people prefer to take away their order and eat at home, although you mind find some students looking for a quick dinner before a night out. Most of the menu is very cheap, while other options are slightly more expensive but still very affordable. The options include Thai green curry noodles, Yakisoba noodles, and oyster sauce noodles. You can also buy some beer while you're there, and if you eat in, there are large bottles of soy sauce on every table. There's a flashing orange sign on the window and its large containers of cheap but stronge coffee are also a staple among hard-partying students.
Lava
Hippocrene Fall's sushi restaurant. You can order from the menu or eat from the conveyor belt. On Saturdays there's also an all-you-can-eat buffet for $15. Its vegetarian sushi options make it a very popular destination for birthday dinners.
Il Convivio
A welcoming, small Italian restaurant. There's a wide array of pastas and pizzas, including seasonal and weekly exclusives. It's not very expensive, and if you ask nicely and bring your own boxes, there's a take away option. There are some recognisable wines, but most of them come in dusty, unmarked bottles.
Pizzazilla
The local pizza place, with lots of red plastic everywhere. It has a large selection of pizzas, including a "build your own pizza" option. It also offers a few cheap pasta dishes and a very fast a delivery service. You can always listen to some 80s and 90s music playing in the background, and the place includes an arcade area with several games and a claw machine.
Atomic
A 50s-style diner located close to the outskirts of town and the type of place where you can order an old fashioned malt or a milkshake with your food. The menu is known, not only for all the types of hamburgers it offers, but also for its pies. Examples include Dutch chocolate, coconut custard, chocolate and cherry chiffon, pink lemonade, tomato with onion and fennel seeds, black bean and pecan. There are also seasonal specials, like peaches with cream in the summer and sweet potato in the Autumn. Cake is another big selling point. It's open 24 hours a day, so it's not unusual to find students ordering large stacks of pancakes (have we mentioned there are all sorts of interesting toppings like orange-pineapple?) after a night out.
Ned's Place
This is a small bar where people can sit down and talk over some beers and onion rings. There are some comfortable, slightly smelly booths that are ideal for groups of friends, as well as regular tables and seats at the bar. It holds regular karaoke nights and stand-up comedy sessions, and Ned is always willing to be the judge in everyone's drunken bets.
(no name)
This place is only open to those in the know. In fact, nobody's quite sure if it's entirely legal. On weekend nights and other nights when party-goers are expected, it opens for business -- but you wouldn't know. If you knock on the right door, you will gain entry after the owner has made sure you're trusthworthy. Once inside, you'll find a small kitchen-like room where you can buy various types of croissants and pretzels. It's perfect if you get hungry on a night out, but don't want to go all the way to Atomic.
Cafés
Bluebell
A small, quirky bakery with lots of bright colours. The furniture is all mismatched and consists of cute wooden chairs, pouffes, and old armchairs and sofas. There are several kinds of cupcakes and muffins, as well as tea. The place is co-owned by Maddie, a friendly, out-going young woman, and Ginger, a cat who is most often found sleeping curled up on an armchair.
The Idiot Café
The local hang-out for intellectuals, The Idiot doesn't have much in the way of looks. In fact, it's rather plain and shabby and not very well-lit. However, there's a bookshelf filled with obscure books you can borrow, and a fireplace that is perfect for Winter-time philosophical discussions. The coffee isn't good and it mostly serves one type of somewhat strong but oily coffee (the owner will begrugingly make you other kinds, though). There are regular open-mic nights for spoken poetry and long essays.
Café Constant
A large, well-lit café with an Art Nouveau decoration, Café Constant offers different kinds of pastries and coffees, and there are occasional music nights in which someone plays classical or jazz music on the piano.
Venetia
A cosy tea place that serves every tea you can imagine, like "strawberries with cream" tea or more common options like plain green tea. There is also a hookah area with several different flavours you can choose from.
Panache Tea Room
This is the kitchiest tea room in existence, the kind where you can find doilies and cups with pictures of kittens. On special occasions, the owner goes all-out to decorate it, and if you tell her it's your birthday, you'll get a free cake and a 25% discount on a large tin of biscuits.
Entertainment
Green Box Theatre
The Green Box is THE theatre in Hippocrene Falls. Most new movie releases can be found here, along with occasional concerts and cultural events.
Reel Theatre
This isn't quite a theatre, it's practically a large basement turned into one. The seats are always musty and there is nowhere to buy food (but you can bring your own). It subsists mostly on showing foreign and indie films, and there's a student discount.
The Drive-In
The drive-in is open mostly when it's warm, but it also holds a few screenings in the autumn and winter. It plays a wide selection of old and relatively new movies, classics and indie films. If you don't have a car, there's a small area with tables.
Kalos
An art gallery. There are two rooms, one devoted to more traditional-looking art, and another for modern art -- so there's something for every taste. Once in a while, there are very exclusive openings. Kalos encourages young talents to apply to exhibit their works there, so you might want to try it if you have some artistic skills.
Shops
Applesauce's
A family-run shop that takes up three whole floors. Their ground floor is devoted exclusively to children's books. The second floor offers artisanal and classic toys. The third and final floor has all kinds of sweets, from tins of homemade fudge to modern staples like sour worms.
Hallowed
This is the go-to shop for every formal occasion, or for when you feel like splurging. It sells various kinds of formal attire, as well as designer handbags and perfumes. There is also a small area where you can find expensive vintage clothes and accessories.
Grenouille Verte
A cheap, second-hand clothing shop. Students can sell their old clothes here, or find jeans from the 80s, skirts from the 50s, or more recent used clothes. It also sells shoes and various kinds of accessories. There is a small room in the back where there are retro, mostly kitschy trinkets like lawn ornaments and lava lamps.
Dust
Hippocrene Falls very own used-book shop. It's not very orderly, but there is a huge, somewhat peculiar selection -- from first-editions of classic books to pulp paperbacks.
The Curio Cabinet
A shop run by a friendly elderly couple who will help you find anything you ask. And you might need their help, too, because the shop is packed full of boxes and cabinets of various trinkets, most of them old. Some are valuable, others not so much, but you will likely find it here. There's a small section where a special selection of esoteric items can be bought.
Edgeworth & Cliffside Antiques
The difference between this shop and The Curio Cabinet is that it's far more orderly and upscale. It's more expensive, but if you're willing to spend some money, you can buy sets of antique china and Victorian furniture.
Markets & Fairs
There's a small covered market close to the town centre, where you may buy produce and various trinkets. During the summer months, there's an open-air market. Every Sunday afternoon, when the weather is good, there's a crafts and used goods fair in one of the town squares. There are also brief, seasonal ones like a Christmas market.
There is also a small supermarket, a pharmacy, a flower shop, and a jeweller, among others.
Accomodation
High Road Bed & Breakfast
A small, family-run B&B. The building itself was built in the 1920s and it's made of red brick, with railings and window accents in dark brown wood. Its ivy-covered facade is particularly charming, as its garden -- which is entirely fenced in, with flower beds around the left side and paths of grey stone snaking between them. It's run by Harriet's parents.
Other Locations
The Lake
This isn't the school's lake, but a larger one on the other side of Hippocrene Falls. In the summer, people can swim on the shores or rent rowboats. In the winter, the lake often freezes over, and it's possible to go ice skating.
The Cemetery
A large cemetery located relatively close to the school. The area closest to the entrance has more recent graves, but if you wander around enough, there are much older graves, some covered with ivy and others in a better condition.
There's also a total of three parks: a larger one where everyone goes, a smaller one close to the lake, and an old abandoned park. Religious students can attend one of the various churches found here, and students interested in art and architecture may want to visit the old Catholic and Anglican churches -- St. Aloysius' and Trinity, respectively.
If you would like to create a location for the game, please ask us first! We will probably allow it, but we want make sure things fit in.