House-At-A-Glance[]
Mascot: Hippocampus
Motto: Creativity can solve almost any problem!
Values:
- Creativity
- Knowledge
- Ingenuity
Colors: Blue & Silver
Element: Water
About House Specific Songs/Cheers[]
2025 Waverider Cheer/Song Sheet
Meeting Former Waveriders From History[]
About The Founder[]
Orthia Stephen hailed from the island of Cythera, off the coast of Greece. It was remote and difficult to access if you didn’t know what you were doing. Orthia therefore made it a point to know what she was doing, and to have a way to find out when she didn’t. She learned how to craft makeshift tools out of what she had available without more metropolitan trade networks, and how to use and respect what the island and the sea gave her. Because of the remoteness of the island, she learned the value of outdoor skills from early on. Fearless, her life was peppered with adventures. When she came of age, Orthia enrolled in the Aeaea School of Sorcery. She excelled in her survival classes and working with magical creatures, and was known among classmates for her competitive but honorable and fair nature. She would often use amulets, potions, or spells to allow herself to breathe underwater so she could explore the school’s elaborate complex of tunnels, and occasionally helped to make quick repairs on the tunnels in the case of a leak or contamination between the fresh and saltwater networks.
It was at Aeaea that Orthia discovered and nurtured her passion for sailing, and immediately after graduation, she and several of her classmates purchased a beautiful ship called the Waverider. She was quickly made captain and led her crew on many adventures, often perilous and distant. While she tended to cast sails with a mission in mind, she often allowed herself and the crew to become sidetracked to help a creature in need or to explore a new phenomenon. After years at sea, a vicious storm damaged the ship beyond repair. Orthia scrambled with all of the magical and mundane tools at her disposal to find a solution, even as all of her crew knew and told her it was hopeless. Desperate to save their lives, she stopped trying to save the ship itself and instead used her magic to create strong defenses around the two lifeboats which would hold her small crew save for herself. The crew protested her sacrifice, but Orthia insisted that a captain must be ready to go down with her ship. Her honor demanded it. Despite her exhaustion from the ordeal, Orthia began trying to bind together splintered wood from the ship to fashion a raft. She was a strong swimmer, of course, but she was also much to far from the nearest coast. As the ship sank, she gathered rope and freshwater and clung to her makeshift raft, the water churning violently. Hours later, as the storm began to settle, she spotted a beautiful hippocampus and called out to it. Having always had a way with magical creatures, she was able to befriend it, and the hippocampus agreed to let her make reigns from the ropes and carried her to shore.
Famous Alumni[]
Laios Mydon was an ichthyocentaur who attended the academy in its early years. He could shapeshift in order to walk on land but had to return to water by sunset, or risk being trapped on land forever. This led to him having a specialized cart created that carried around a large trough of water, which he would sleep in at night.
About Jimmy[]
Jimmy the Spirit Stick is a more modern artifact though perhaps one of the most important of the Waverider artifacts. Jimmy was discovered in his raw state by Waverider students who were intrigued by the patterns on the vine, and wished to take it back to Trefoil Academy. The Head of House for Waverider (Bunburry) agreed and with some modest modifications trimmed the vine into its current state. It was then handed back over to the students who named and transformed it into Jimmy the Spirit Stick. It is aptly named as it now contains the Spirit of Waverider House.
All those who become part of Waverider house add to the Spirit. It is theorized that the Spirit is comprised of all of the emotions, memories, and residual energies of those having belonged to the House providing strength, comfort, and confidence to those currently belonging. Those having left the House still feel a connection to Jimmy though the aura of confidence, comfort, and strength, only seems to come into effect for them when they come into direct contact with Jimmy.
Rumors that Jimmy has moved of his own volition or having communicated with staff and students via disembodied voice or visual stimuli are unsubstantiated. It is not known what species of liana (woody vine) Jimmy was made from though some theorize it to have inherent magical properties.
It is common Waverider knowledge that Jimmy should not touch the ground though the consequences of Jimmy coming into contact with the ground are unknown. Most believe that Jimmy holds the chaos of the house and that if he is to come in contact with the ground that chaos will be released. A former Head of House once stated that “sometimes he can be placed on the ground and other times not. I get the impression he just doesn’t like to touch the ground and often you just get a feeling when it’s ok or not. Usually not.”
About the Culture[]
Traditions and Culture[]
- Waverider makes it a goal to win the Dependable Jean Granger Award each year (and at times works harder to win this than the House Cup). We pride ourselves on being prepared and responsible, and we work hard to ensure that our house is always cleaner than the rest
- Waverider is known for its attachment to and liberal use of apple cider vinegar, a strong potion that wards off spiders and other arachnid creatures.
- Waverider’s students are known far and wide for their strong sense of integrity. There are a great many stories about Waveriders admitting to and owning their mistakes and missteps, regardless of the consequences to themselves, and they will often go to great lengths to remedy any harm that may have been caused.
About Specific Traditions[]
Jimmy Dunking[]
Every year at the start of the term, all current Waverider students and faculty gather to connect or reconnect with the spirit of Waverider— that is, with Jimmy and with each other. When circumstances allow, all new members of the house are invited to hold Jimmy before passing him on to the next new member, until it reaches returning students, starting with the youngest and ending with the oldest. The oldest student then passes Jimmy off onto the faculty, then the House leadership, ending with the Head of House. Then, the Head of House lowers Jimmy into a natural source of water, usually a creek or lake. It is said that this process allows Jimmy to reach and take on the chaos of all Waveriders, and that dunking him in water seals in the chaos and allows it to settle, as the spirit of Waverider feels most at home in the water. Some years, due to various hardships the Academy has faced, the House has had to resort to other methods of connecting to Jimmy or imbuing him with chaos, such as spell-casting to compensate for physical distance, but allowing him time in the water has remained the same.
The Knot Ceremony[]
In this ceremony, Waverider house members will be given a knot tied with a piece of paracord that can be worn or attached to day-bags. These knots represent the teamwork that sailors and the house must exemplify and tie us together as one house who always looks out for each other.