A question about the campaign, (I haven't read all the summaries, but some).

Do the characters ever go and get a teacher?  This is an ancient magical university, with secrets and dangers, I assume some of the dangers might be something they may not be able to handle?  Or if such a danger did exist, the faculty would have dealt with it already?  Or maybe if the students can't deal with things like angry ghosts, then they don't belong there, and the occasional tragedy is expected?

Just asking because a lot of times in real life when we find ourselves in over our heads we call in someone better equipped for the problem if there is someone available, but a lot of times in games, "game logic" is different, we handle things ourselves...because.  As students in a magical college with presumably powerful faculty, the possibility exists of a very big safety net, and I just wondered how the players dealt with that.

There is a very large faculty and research function at the Collegium, especially this, their oldest branch.  They have 4 classes daily, and have a very good relationship with many of their professors.  Buy for the first 90-odd sessions, they did try to keep a lot of stuff quiet that they did or that happened to them.  

And understand, this is a high mystery/ historical puzzle game.  Not that many combats, etc.  But outs of terrifying threats, to your point.  The PC's have kept things quiet for a few reasons, one big one being Agency, that they don't want to lose their ability to be unobserved, but the biggest has been the level of intrigue apparent very early on.  They know there are many agenda for many people, and they have seen many hints of subterfuge from Orders current and even some thought long-extinct and forbidden.  One of their earlier sort-of patrons dissapeared, and they had to rescue him, in a crypt under the hidden Library of Lost Students.  And that sort of blew their cover with the High Warlock.  Who they don't completely trust.

But after 97 sessions, one of the spirits that are tied to the statues they hunt for, that are a huge part of the storyline (they have 3 of 12), almost killed a prefect one night...so their cover has been blown with the whole Council of Students, and last session was spent with Keeper Voros, a professor...setting up a defense that might allow them to tell most without divulging the statues.....

Thank you for asking, BTW.  After all these years and all the long games I have run, this is the one I feel has pushed me the most, and has been the most narrative-worthy.

We hit session 99 last week.
Obviously, coming up on a big one.  
Session 99 was one of those relationship sessions, where the group is, narratively, sort of moving into a new chapter.  For the entire time, 38 days in game time, they have been dealing with the ancient undead legacy of an old Illegal Order that was executed some 700+ years before, but no one has really known about this angle, that some undead have been operating, undetected, on campus.
Now, it seems that will change.  
The Students have to go before the Council of Students to explain the events of the last few nights.  Where a Prefect was set afire after finding them out after hours, about what the know about the disappearance and finding of Warlock Bin, about strange mists and horrible dreams.

LordVreeg (GM): Voros.." The history of the School is tied to many groups, Dexie...I am not being difficult, this place, the Godstraat, the Necropolis...are Nexus points"
"I want to protect you by allowing you to control what others know, since now...there is no more denying"
Pholian Mar: "Thank you. That is the plan any way."

Durhum: So it seems, especially a nexus for the dead.
LordVreeg (GM): Voros..." Oh it is not any matured position....I sense something going on...these statues, as you describe them...an ancient order..."
"too many cookies will send it all into hiding"
 
Durhum shrugs again
Durhum: As long as we don't get executed or expelled, we'll find out more eventually
LordVreeg (GM): Voros, " As Grazz't said, we all only see the world in the size of our eyes."
" Your meeting is at 7th hour tomorrow."  He shakes his head, then stares at the tall tapestry on top of the fireplace.
"I am presenting you, " he smiles...." As Jubilex seems to inhabit me"
 
Durhum pulls out his plate
Durhum: SHould I bring a platter to put us on
LordVreeg (GM): Voros..." Nice plate."
Durhum: We think it signals or cleanses poison.
But... we can't get our hands on any poison to test
LordVreeg (GM): Voros..." Do you want me to tell you?"
he smiles..." Before we are all expelled?"
Durhum: Hmmm
In exchange for what?


And so it goes.  
And session 100 should mark the turning point.  The school, some part of it, depending on the inquest,  will understand more that something is stalking the school.
From here.

Session 100 Thursday night.
A nice milestone, always.  And no signs of slowing.

More remarkable for the exposition, as the PC who really understands the secrets of the Statuettes went over a lot of what he understood, and everyone else has a better idea of what he's going through and all the grief the ghosts are creating.  

Durhum: Ummm, there's 13 statues
Pholian Mar: "That's the priestesses name if I remember correctly"
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir..." Lots we don't know"
Durhum: So, we don't even know half of what's going on/
Pholian Mar: "Well, it's not like it'sbeen even easy to identify the three so far"
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir..." Yes, but maybe we try to make that a focus"
Pholian Mar: "Haven't we already?"
Durhum: Seana Bin.
Pholian Mar: "Not from those Bins"
"We checked"
Durhum: Oh
Hmmm
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir.." Pholian, we didn't even know how many there were"
Pholian Mar: "She was a hobyt to begin with"
Les'z: andd Avram killed 12...
Pholian Mar: "Well, we still don't"
"There might be thirteen or twelve"
"I had a dream once when they were all gathered around a chained figure"
"And there was thirteen total of them"
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir..." thirteen with or without the chained one?"
Les'z: which one was the one that you went into
when you almost died
it was poking us
Pholian Mar: "With"
"Stefan's"
Les'z: to prevent us leaving witohout it
Pholian Mar: "Let me just get them from my room"
I go to fetch them
(To Pholian Mar): they are all sitting outside your door
(To Pholian Mar): in a row
Pholian Mar: I return swiftly and showcase three figures, one smaller than the other (ooc: Klaxik's smallest one, right?"
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir puts some wood into the fireplace, the chill of this night is coming on, as Red Gerin sarts to dominate the sky
ooc yes
Les'z: and see, we need wood
Pholian Mar: "Okay, so this " I point to the statue with a top hat and face of a fox "is obviously Foxface"
I tap a robed statue "This is Stefan, and this is the one that kept my soul"
Les'z: we have seen him also aspect in the mist
foxface that is
Pholian Mar: "And this" I point to the klaxik with twin kamas "Is the Angry Klaxik. Name Unknown"
Les'z: i thought you said angry klaxik wasw stefan
where is this priestess
Durhum: And feathered omwo?
Pholian Mar: "Well Feathered Omwo was chasing us the other night"
"And I don't know where the priestess is"
"I just know they exist"
Les'z: is priestess omwo or hobyt you said both
LordVreeg (GM): Grfank.." What about the stag-headed thing we saw?"
Les'z: I bet the priestess is in the hands of somebody else
Pholian Mar: "Oh right. THat's another one"
"So we know six, give or take"
Les'z: how does 5 add up to 6
Durhum: Stag Head, Foxface, Klaxik, Feathered Omwo, Stefan, Priestess
 
Durhum picks up the klaxik statue
Durhum: What happens if we put one in the magic block box?
Les'z: so featherd omwo is not priestess
is it a female?
Pholian Mar: "No, he's the one that fried the High Prefect"
"I don't think it's going to fit for one. And for second, I'd not try"
"You might kill him"
 
Durhum shrugs
Durhum: He's already dead
Pholian Mar: "Technically, yes"
 
Durhum picks up Foxfaces statue
Durhum: Let's try on this one first then.
Pholian Mar: "I wouldn't."
Durhum: Who's got the box?
Pholian Mar: "You do realise they are sentient and I do not control them, and ever since we freed Bin, they've been growing more independent and powerful"

So, this was an important part, as all the Dexies (first year students), after 100 full sessions, a few dozen intermezzo sessions and over 5000 pages of text, the secrets of the Statuettes may be laid bare to the Council of Students.  They know something has been going on, but how much the Dexies are forced to tell and what the outcome of that shall be the important point of the next few sessions.

Session 101.

You know, you can never tell where PCs will go.

I really thought they'd go to dinner.  Instead, they decided to show the Senior Prefect Farslung Jobs (an Orcash Priest of the Church of Grazzt the Redeemer, as well as being a Senior Prefect from the Order of the Aid of Faith in the Collegium) an old Statue with a secret passage underneath it they had discovered.  
Of course, last time they went down there, one of the students lost a hand.  So, never did I expect this detour.  Oh, PCs...

Session notes here.  Below, we have a portion as the group emerges from the dusty, dark, and vaulted passage found underneath Finni library, after running into some strange shadow that ensorcelled Durham and almost killed Grfank.

LordVreeg (GM): Jobs, as he gets to the top of the ladder, behind the statue of Oblimet..." So... Some kind of Spectre down there. And they normally haunt areas. What happened last time you wandered down there?"
Durhum: We saw the Amerer statue, it's at the T in the hall to the south of where we were.
Also Pholian died.

Pholian Mar: "Was heavily wounded."
I shoot Durhum a look
"And it's not getting sloppier"

"For gods' sake, wake up, it almost killed two of us this time"
LordVreeg (GM): Jobs..."not the safest thing..."
Durhum: It did better last time. It pounced too early
If I fell off the ladder it would have been worse for me.
Pholian Mar: "Maybe you'd like to go back and exchange tactics pointers with it?" I speak with weapon - grade sarcasm

LordVreeg (GM): Jobs.." More to the point, this speaks to what you've been dealing with"
Grfank.." Aye"
(To Vee): roll det+1/4 art
Durhum: See, Jobs now has proof.
We can initiate him into our secret order
LordVreeg (GM): Jobs..." Of something yes. Of a few things"

Durhum smiles giddily
Vee: rolling 1d100
(
10
)
= 10

The group starts to move out of the alley with the alcoved statue.  The wind whips by, moaning, making all pull their robes closer.  Bosh still has his little travel lantern out.  No seems to mind the light, after the attack of the shaodowy thing below.

Pholian Mar: "Yeah, and if things went a bit different, he'd have two solid stone cold proofs"
Vee: "If only there were a way to just banish some of these spirits."
"Or even just forcibly shrive them."
(To Vee): you note a green and silver-blue gold around Grfank 19 exp
Pholian Mar: "I don't know if it's possible"
Durhum: Well there was an idea, that Pholian shot down.
Pholian Mar: "Not in this case. As long as it's...reliquary exists for the lack of better term, I doubt it can be permanently destroyed"
LordVreeg (GM): Jobs.." Let's finish our trip to Peedjit for dinner. we can talk inside
Durhum: Sounds good.
LordVreeg (GM): he leads you back outside the alley
the cold wind whips around you
Grfank is stumbling a bit, after the ordeal below.

(To Pholian Mar): roll det+1/4 necro
Pholian Mar: rolling d100
(
44
)
= 44
Pholian looks around paranoically
(To Pholian Mar): angry voice...." perdition, the infection, so obvious!"
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir.." I think I need a drink after this"
Pholian Mar: "Wait"
"Grfank, Durhum"
"Stand aside from us and stand aside from each other"
LordVreeg (GM): Grfank? "What are you asking?"
Pholian Mar: "Please, just do so"
LordVreeg (GM): Jobs..." Pholian, what is wrong?"
Pholian Mar: I whisper to Jobs

Durhum moves to the west
LordVreeg (GM): Grfank.." Do what?"  The huge gartier's eye's are narrowed in an uncharacteristic confusion.
(From Pholian Mar): "I don't know. The ghosts just mentioned something about an infection. And Grfank does not look good"
Durhum: Spread out.
(From Pholian Mar): "Could you check if he's alright? If they both are?"

Durhum keeps his blacksteel dagger at hand
LordVreeg (GM): Grfank moves east, away from the group a bit..moving slowly, a glint in his eye.
Vee: "I saw some magic around Grfank, but I didn't think much of it."
Pholian Mar: "Now stay calm Grfank"
"Just let the Prefect examine you"

Durhum narrows his eyes

LordVreeg (GM): Suddenly, a black cloud explodes from Grfank, blinding everyone...
An angry screech that cuts to everyone's soul...
At that, Grfank's skin disapears, and an angry
shadow stands in the space, dark and menacing...then it speeds back into the alley
as everyone is knocked off their feet by the Black Explosion
LordVreeg (GM): the bellow is sub-human, a rage from beyond life,
then everyone is left in a strange silence...

Pholian Mar: I cough and try to raise myself on my elbow
"G...Grfank?"
LordVreeg (GM): Just west of Finni library
Grfank is gone
Pholian Mar: "No, no no no no no"
LordVreeg (GM): Jobs...rolling around.."What in the redeemers's name was that?"
Vee: "Oh no..."
Pholian Mar: "We need to go back down"
Durhum: It killed him
Pholian Mar: "No, he's still down there"
(To Vee): the rondel is somehow still in your hand
Durhum: You're damn right we need to go back down.
Pholian Mar: "it just made an illusion of him"

Durhum turns around heads back towards the alley
Pholian Mar: I speak like I'm trying more to persuade myself than others
Durhum: Wait, we left his body?
LordVreeg (GM): Jobs...standing.." yes, it fooled us, for sure"
Durhum: No time to waste
Pholian Mar: "Come on, let's all stick together as close as possible."

Vee hurries along

Durhum leads the pack dagger drawn

Quite a session for drama....
Just when I thought I had everything prepped for the next few sessions...the PCs, perhaps emulating the teens they are playing, decided to go back to danger.

Session 102 last Thursday...

Proving that if the mundane and the mysterious is including in a lot of gaming, when danger actually comes in, it is that much more arresting.
Session 101 included the PCs realizing an undead shapeshifter had taken the place of their friend Grfank, and the need to rush back into the strange old catacombs under the Finni Library to try to find him before he was gone.  

Again, though they know a little bit of magic, these are 12-14 year old kids (or their racial equivalent), so they know little magic, don't really have much for supplies, and minimal arms.  So even a battle with three Huge Rats was a struggle.  Also, the way dynamic lighting works in roll20, and the fact our game has minimal darksight and one person has a lantern, makes for a spooky experience.  I guess one theorem getting proven out of this experiment is that roleplaying and small, incremental progress can make a game last a long while.

Session 103 recently.

The exploration continues looking for Grfank, their fellow student and brother of the Attic, who was replaced by some undead shapeshifter.  As mentioned, these are students, so this is a terrifying and very low-power exploration.  
Also, one of the ghosts in Pholian's statuettes helped him out when the found some fingerbones that radiated magic...but for a price.

Vee: "I have a fingerbone like this that could be used to cast corpse candle."
http://celtricia.pbworks.com/w/page/14955457/Corpse%20Candle
LordVreeg (GM): Bosh.." Quite the education, if I live through this"
Durhum: Yep, put the spell on my dagger and we're good to go again
Pholian Mar: "Come on, I'd do it myself if I had a hand"
Durhum: I can hold the dagger, what do I need to do?
Pholian Mar: I sigh
"Just slice my palm open, a bit, enough I can get the blood over the fingerbone"
Vee: "Warden Frimak thought the one I found was a plant by... someone."
"He never said who."
Pholian Mar: "Just watch it, that dagger of yours looks pretty sharp"
LordVreeg (GM): Jobs..." A plant? Strange"
 
Durhum tries to carefully cut Pholians palm
(To Pholian Mar): kind voice..." One wonders"
Vee: "I also met the ghost of Warden Jomak when I found it."
"I doubt they were unrelated happenings."
Pholian Mar: My cheeks puff up and there's a soft blowing sound a I realise this might've not been the best idea
LordVreeg (GM): the blood pools in Pholians hand...
Vee: ooc brb
(To Pholian Mar): snide voice..." Now, that is much better. Oh, maybe..." yes...
Pholian Mar: I carefully clench my hand, wincing and getting the blood all over the fingerbone
Trying very hard not to swear
(To Pholian Mar): UNdead sleep...Ashes of the Dead....enhance turn
(To Pholian Mar): says the snide voice, loudly, clearly

All of this followed by a huge black, hairy spider jumping on Durhum's back, causing another fight....

Hard to keep up some times.
Sessions 104 and 105 have come and gone, as the first year students slowly run out of oil and learn to defeat huge Saligrakian Rats in the basement tunnels under the hoary Collegium Arcana, talk to ghosts of agent prefects and have small statuettes with souls trapped in them communicate.  All this, as they try to rescue their lost fellow student, in the dead of night...underground.



Les'z: Hi ho
Says les yanking out
His dagger

Durhum: ooc: we all have daggers
LordVreeg (GM): Durhum, the table is front of you, old books and vials on it, and a few old wood crates under it
LordVreeg (GM): the coals are giving off a red glow
red eyes can be seen in a few places
Durhum: Stay close.
Everyone with a weapon up front
(To Vee): what say you?
Les'z: Ooc are we still following drag marks
Vee: "I think we're being watched."
(To Vee): shall we move you up? are you armed?
(From Vee): I am armed. Don't think I should be in the front row, though.
(From Vee): Just not entirely sure what I can see and what everyone else can see.
LordVreeg (GM): Durhum, Bosh, and Les'z are in the front
(From Vee): I assume those are Saligrakian rats?
LordVreeg (GM): Vee and Gregoir right behind
Les'z: "Yes those look like eyes"
LordVreeg (GM): Bosh has put his lantern down....

The students are finding out they are adept at killing these beasties, so far.

Well, I am quite busy with work and all, but I thought I'd stop by and post that this online game has continued and thrived.

We had session 138 last week, with the PCs having played some 44-odd days of in-game time.
Very minute detail, and character development, and nearly all of it done inside the campus for 138 games.  

"LordVreeg (GM): 10th hour on the 42nd
Les: n think of
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir.."I am sure that bit about sympathetic items and such from last spellcasting will be on exams"
Bosh.." Terrifying thought"
Durhum: And his synergy bit too
about some things working well with others
Les: that wasn't so hard, what are you worried about?
Durhum: Although I have the instinct that he doesn't know the whole.. truth of it?
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir.." Glad you found it easy, I know we'll be using it"
Pholian Mar: "I imagine the details of the theory'll be much harder than the general statements so far"
LordVreeg (GM): Jobs.." You can say that again"
Durhum: So, home and sleep?
LordVreeg (GM): Suzanni..."Typical underclassmen" she smiles at you all
Durhum: I can't think of anything pressing we need to do
Les: What would an upperclassman do.?.
LordVreeg (GM): Suzanni.." We always have things we are studying"
Les: Well then let's do that
LordVreeg (GM): Gregoir..."Surely we have a pile of strange historical notes to look for?"
Durhum: Wait
 
Durhum holds out a ring with red shield and helmet symbols
Durhum: Venkster had this, someone payed him to spy on us
LordVreeg (GM): Suzanni.." well, That is better. If you are looking for historical, then Fessenden is better. More spellcasting, especially with healing or Order, ten Finni is better"
Durhum: We havent really done anything about it
Pholian Mar: "Spy with that" I motion to the ring "or paid with that?"
Durhum: Paid I think, it was a bribe
Along with some coins and I think promise of admission to a guild
There was a note but I think I left it in my room.
LordVreeg (GM): Suzanni.." Our Venkster in the dorm?"
Durhum: Yes
The slimeball, that I was correct about, B
BY THE WAY
LordVreeg (GM): Jobs.." That is a Red Armor sigil"
Pholian Mar: I sigh "Apparently. Though thank the Green Mother he's not bragging too much about that...ah. Here we go"

Session 149.

Just a little update, as this game is still going on and staying healthy.

One of the students has been invited to a grand, historically significant ball.  
The other students have decided to not be left behind and are sneaking in.
Also, the hilarity of one of the students being bitten by a Pumpkin headed broom golem, and breaking 2 fingers in the process.