Nyx Nyghtingale
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Poll - Aurelius University Mascot!
🕑 Added 2024-11-07 18:00:05 +0000 UTCHey everyone! I've spent quite a bit of time following Amara and friends around campus, and time has come to show the setting a bit of love. We're seeing more and more of the college as the book progresses, and I'd love some help fleshing out some details!
As the title suggests, I want to give Aurelius University a mascot. In that vein, I want to share a little bit of worldbuilding details about the school.
Aurelius University (AU) is a fictional college based in a fictional town in Northern Illinois. The school's colors are purple and white. AU is a fairly sizable school, and has been around for a very long time, but it's not as big or well-known as like, Yale or Harvard.
I haven't given this too much thought myself, and the only idea I've had was to make them the "Aurelius Angels". This idea is based purely in my love of alliteration, and my desire to have a mascot that is relevant to the Urban Fantasy setting it lives in. That being said, using Angels as a mascot feels incredibly on the nose, and I don't know if that's a good thing or not.
I'd love to hear your ideas!
Comments
AFanofRoses
I'm looking forward to it!
AFanofRoses
I'm thinking something between a ribbon dancer and a wacky-waving-inflatable-arm-flailing-tube-man.
Jeff
I hadn’t finished designing their entire wardrobe yet; give me a minute. :-P I think the official reason for the name would tie back to early Illinois history. Chicago is where it is because Native American tribes found that area to be an easy portage between the Great Lakes and tributaries of the Mississippi River. Which led to fur trappers and settlers building towns, which led to a larger town that became a starting point for wagon trains going west, which led to a major city. So I think the mascot would be a Davey Crockett/Daniel Boone sort of outfit, with buckskin leather jacket and pants, fur trim for the history, and so on. Meanwhile, the people who know about the portals being the real reason for the name just smirk to themselves and say “oh yeah, totally. Um… wagon trains or something. Yeah, definitely.” If you’re trying to cover something up and you want people to believe it, the coverup has to have the appearance of being true or real. Verisimilitude.
Nyx Nyghtingale
If we go with Aurora, do we still get a silly mascot costume running around the football field? What would they look like?
Nyx Nyghtingale
Avengers would be an interesting way to incorporate a bit of Angel iconography into the mascot without just saying it's an Angel. Something to think about!
Nyx Nyghtingale
So, if their mascot is a Pathfinder, what costume does the guy on the football field wear?
Walking in LA
👍🏼 I think this is better than my Alicorn suggestion.
Walking in LA
I offer Alicorns (winged unicorns). Also not a fan of Angels, unless maybe it's the Aurelius Avenging Angels.
AFanofRoses
My recommendation is the Aurelius Aurora(s). They're created when charged particles from the sun hit the Earth's magnetic field, and I think there's a clever metaphor in there for extradimensional phenomena. In any case, I'm not thrilled by the Aurelius Angels. I recommend using one from the comments, even if it's not mine (I like Jeff's suggestion of the Aurelius Pathfinders).
Nyx Nyghtingale
So many good ideas already! I've just learned that I can't add additional options now that the poll is live. Once a week has past, I'll run another poll with all the options included!
Eff Joo
Purple and White colors and in N. Illinois? Sure you don't mean my alma mater: UW Whitewater. It's in Whitewater WI (Only 40 min from the IL/WI border) and was known as The Second Salem. For that reason, I vote The Warhawks :) Actually, what about the Avengers for the title with an angel-like mascot?
Kriss
The university name is kinda giving me arctic vibes so maybe a polar bear or a penguin
Jeff
Alliteration for school mascots is a common thing, but not universal. And while the university location and the confluence of planar gateways is probably not a coincidence, I feel like the original builders wouldn’t have wanted to draw too much attention to that fact. I suggest the Pathfinders, because there are so many portals to other dimensions. It’s innocuous enough to not draw attention to itself while still paying homage to the location if you know the secret.
Ryan
It would be a conversation starter, If nothing else
Gerald Ferguson
Demons
