under the northern lights

Crouching behind the high table, Lyra darted along and through the door into the Retiring Room, where she stood up and looked around. The only light in here came from the fireplace, where a bright blaze of logs settled slightly as she looked, sending a fountain of sparks up into the chimney. She had lived most of her life in the College, but had never seen the Retiring Room before: only Scholars and their guests were allowed in here, and never females. Even the maidservants didn't clean in here. That was the Butler's job alone.

Pantalaimon settled on her shoulder.

"Happy now? Can we go?" he whispered.

"Don't be silly! I want to look around!"

It was a large room, with an oval table of polished rosewood on which stood various decanters and glasses, and a silver smoking stand with a rack of pipes. On a sideboard nearby there was a little chafing dish and a basket of poppy heads.

"They do themselves well, don't they, Pan?" she said under her breath.

She sat in one of the green leather armchairs. It was so deep she found herself nearly lying down, but she sat up again and tucked her legs under her to look at the portraits on the walls. More old Scholars, probably; robed, bearded, and gloomy, they stared out of their frames in solemn disapproval.

"What d'you think they talk about?" Lyra said, or began to say, because before she'd finished the question she heard voices outside the door.

"Behind the chair-quick!" whispered Pantalaimon, and in a flash Lyra was out of the armchair and crouching behind it. It wasn't the best one for hiding behind: she'd chosen one in the very center of the room, and unless she kept very quiet ...


The Scholars greeted the visitor and moved into the room, some sitting around the table, some in the armchairs, and soon a buzz of conversation filled the air. ...

The Master lit the spirit lamp under the little silver chafing dish and heated some butter before cutting half a dozen poppy heads open and tossing them in. Poppy was always served after a feast: it clarified the mind and stimulated the tongue, and made for rich conversation. It was traditional for the Master to cook it himself.

— The Golden Compass, ch. 1

Browser-based interfaces

CGI IRC can be found here: http://cgiirc.esper.net/publicirc/irc.cgi. It runs from your browser and all you have to do is type your nickname into the Nickname box, #jordan_college into the Channel box, and then hit join! Great for people who have never used IRC before.


Firefox browser plug-in: ChatZilla.

Install it like any other Firefox plugin. Once it's installed, select ChatZilla from your Tools pulldown menu. Type the following:

/server irc.esper.net 5555

/join #jordan_college

This will get you onto esper.net and into our chat room. To change your nickname, use the /nick command. For example, if you wanted to change your nick to Camilla, you would type:

/nick Camilla

(If you want more, or more detailed, information check out this ChatZilla FAQ.)


IRC client software

If the browser-based interfaces don't work for you, or if you'd prefer something different, there are other ways to get onto IRC.


mIRC is what Prima uses and she likes it a lot. It is shareware and will prompt you after 30 days to consider registering, but will not force you to do so or to pay. It can be downloaded at http://www.mirc.com/get.html.

LGS says:

To get on to our channel from there, install the program and then open it. Go to Tools in the menu, and then Options. A box should pop up. Type your nickname in the nickname box and one alternate nickname in the other.

Then in the left scroll menu, click on "Servers", then the "Add" button. In the Description box, just type EsperNet.

In the IRC Server box, type irc.esper.net. In the Ports box, type this exactly: 5555,6667

Then hit the Add button. Click the Select button next. Then go back to the left scroll window and click on Connect. Then hit the Connect to Server button.

The box that pops up should say EsperNet somewhere on it! Otherwise you're in the wrong place. If the box says EsperNet, type /join #jordan_college and you're there! If you have any trouble with this, just do me a favor and use CGI:IRC, because I hate doing tech support on mIRC with a passion.

Prima is willing to try to walk you through it, though.


Multifunction messaging clients like Trillian and Miranda can access IRC. If you're already a user of one of those clients, then that's a good option. Trillian users may find this list of IRC commands useful. As for us, we don't use Trillian and have no idea. XD

For all kinds of information on the multiverse in which His Dark Materials takes place, the Srafopedia wiki is indispensable.

There's a useful list of places in the Geography section of the Bridge to the Stars wiki.

Maps of Lyra's Oxford are available here (a locked post in the community).


( descriptions of Jordan College )

( description of the northern outpost )

Alphabetically listed within their home base.
Character name (fandom), <lj username>. Daemon names and species have now been added.

Mod NPCs:

• Lord Asriel (His Dark Materials), scholar_asriel. daemon: Stelmaria, a snow leopard.
  
• Thorold (His Dark Materials), scholar_asriel. daemon: Anfang, a pinscher.
  

Characters based at Jordan College, Oxford:

• Axel (Kingdom Hearts 2), thehipsdontlie. daemon: Aurelius, a jackal.
  
• Vossler York Azelas (Final Fantasy XII), vosslerazelas. daemon: Caldwyr, an Irish wolfhound.
  
• Aziraphale (Good Omens), mister_a_phale. daemon: n/a
  
• Balthier (Final Fantasy XII), von_strahl. daemon: Laverna, a South American Squirrel Monkey
  
• Anthony Bourdain (real life), cheftonyb. daemon: Rose Lee, a fishing cat.
  
• Trowa Barton (Mobile Suit Gundam W(ing)), holdingnofear. daemon: Yanamai, a panther.
  
• Buttercup (The Princess Bride), shes_number_one. daemon: Gamemnon, a lovebird.
  
• Max Carrigan (Across the Universe), killedthefan. daemon: Desra, a raccoon.
  
• Anthony Crowley (Good Omens), a26blackbentley. daemon: n/a.
  
• Jesse Custer (Preacher), dukesmyhomeboy. daemon: Jenny, a shaggy brown mutt.
  
• Bran Davies (The Dark Is Rising), the_raven_boy daemon: Gwenno, a Welsh sheepdog.
  
• Ed Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist (Anime)), fm_elric. daemon: Gisela, a caracal.
  
• Jude Feeny (Across the Universe), loldeported. daemon: Sylvie, a black-capped capuchin monkey.
  
• Kaylee Frye (Firefly), kayleerp. daemon: Mack, a brown dog.
  
• Owen Harper (Torchwood), king_of_flirts. daemon: Ceridwen, a dingo hybrid.
  
• Riza Hawkeye (Fullmetal Alchemist (Manga)), sniper_fire. daemon: Ettore, a border collie.
  
• Jay (Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse), bob_no_speak. daemon: KT, a macaw.
  
• Sae Kashiwagi (Peach Girl), serene_willow. daemon: Minoru, a coatimundi.
  
• Lord Katsumoto (The Last Samurai), areallperfect. daemon: Yasu, a white tiger.
  
• L (Death Note), horribleposture. daemon: Olyandra, a ring-tailed lemur.
  
• Camilla Macaulay (The Secret History), c_macaulay. daemon: Quentin, a fennec fox.
  
• Lucius Malfoy (Harry Potter), venomousblond. daemon: Aurelia, an adder.
  
• Rodney McKay (Stargate: Atlantis), mckayrm. daemon: Nigella, a ferret
  
• Oriya Mibu (Yami no Matsuei), graciousenigma. daemon: Apollon, a black panther.
  
• Kazutaka Muraki (Yami no Matsuei), doctorbadtouch. daemon: Methodius, an albino kingsnake
  
• Near (Death Note), a_cote_du. daemon: Tillie, not settled yet.
  
• Malcolm Reynolds (Firefly), shitzi. daemon: ShiZi, a lioness.
  
• Basch fon Ronsenburg (Final Fantasy XII), baschronsenburg. daemon: Renate, a smilodon
  
• Roxas (Kingdom Hearts II), antiantisora. daemon: Lysander, an ocelot.
  
• John Sheppard (Stargate: Atlantis), hedge_pilot. daemon: Rosalie, a vampire bat.
  
• Silent Bob (Kevin Smith's View Askewniverse), bob_no_speak. daemon: Roberta, a meerkat.
  
• Larsa Ferrinas Solidor (Final Fantasy XII), larsafsolidor. daemon: Eleftherios, not settled yet.
  
• The Doctor (Doctor Who), thesonicdoctor. daemon: Artaith, not settled.
  
• Tiger Lily (Peter Pan), lily_tiger_blue. daemon: Tiriaq, a Sumatran tiger.
  
• Bruno Walton (MacDonald Hall), save_the_hall. daemon: Karl, a clownfish.
  
• Quatre Raberba Winner (Gundam Wing), notesdemusique. daemon: Brienne, a Norwegian forest cat.
  

Characters based at the outpost in Norroway:

• Iorek Byrnison (His Dark Materials), iorekthebear. daemon: n/a.
  
• Draco (Dragonheart), theoldcode. daemon: n/a.
  
• Fou (D. Gray-Man), crystallizes. daemon: Jinx, a red fox.
  
• Galadriel (Lord of the Rings), ladyaltariel. daemon: Are, a bluebird.
  
• Hashiba Touma (Yoroiden Samurai Troopers), blueshiftstar. daemon: Kairavi, a red-tailed hawk.
  
• Gregory House (House M.D.), exam_room_one. daemon: Luciana, a spotted hyena.
  
• Ami Mizuno (Sailor Moon), mercuami. daemon: Yuta, a tabby cat.
  
• Link Ordonus (Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess), quiethero. daemon: Miloslava, a wolf.
  
• Rabi (D.Gray-man), witha_fire. daemon: Ayn, a raccoon.
  
• Richard (Looking For Group), undeadrichard. daemon: n/a
  
• Rincewind (Discworld), runaway_wizzard. daemon: Molly, a sparrow.
  
• Jack Skellington (The Nightmare Before Christmas), skeletaldreamer. daemon: n/a.
  
• Jon Snow (A Song of Ice and Fire), starkwhitesnow. daemon: Ghost, a direwolf.
  
• Arya Stark (A Song of Ice and Fire), runaway_stark. daemon: Nymeria, a direwolf.
  
• Benjen Stark (A Song of Ice and Fire), not_an_other. daemon: Hild, a crow.
  
• Susan Sto Helit (Discworld), usethepoker. daemon: Morrigan, a raven.
  
• Utena Tenjou (Revolutionary Girl Utena), calyx_ofheaven. daemon: Madeira, a chaffinch.
  
• Elphaba Thropp (Wicked), shizalumna. daemon: Iacchus, a cat.
  
• Allen Walker (D.Gray-man (Manga)), crownednimer. Artemidoris, a White Siberian tiger.
  
• Toki Wartooth (Metalocalypse), tokisisu. daemon: Sisu, a wolf.
  
• Lucivar Yaslana (Black Jewels Trilogy), eyrienprince. daemon: Semele, a wolf.
  
  

Pending:

Bunny Corcoran (The Secret History), bnuny
Fran (Final Fantasy XII), chasingskies. daemon: Shawnodese, a snow leopard.

Available:

Wufei Chang (Gundam Wing). daemon: Ming, an ocelot.

Atreyu (The Never-Ending Story, book canon). daemon: Kishi, a coyote.