Roleplay forum with a self-explanatory title.

The idea for the Knightmare Boarding School was first conceived by Emii (a.k.a. Kully) on Knightmare Back-Up in early September 2003, after hearing about a Harry Potter forum:

'Sounds like fun! Hey...shall we start up a kind of forum boarding school? We could all be in the different years and learn our own stuff! Teach random facts or...yes...'

Some enthusiastic discussion ensued.

Although a board for the school was created on Knightmare Back-Up, it was ultimately deemed worthy of its own forum, which was open within weeks of the initial idea.
The Knightmare Boarding School (KMBS for short) had three houses: Lily-Thorn (named partly in homage to Barry Thorne), Nettle-Rose and Fern-Camomile, echoing Knightmare's camps of Powers That Be, Opposition and Neutral respectively.

Members of the forum included many constituents of the online Knightmare fan community who were active on its other forums (Aranel, Motley, Pickle ^_^, Pooka, Snowcat, Velda and others named below) as well as various newcomers.
While most members joined to become students, some applied to be teachers. Staff included:

Thanatos (Offensive Magic)
snowwiewolf (Magical Pyschology)
Ringmasterrob (Advanced Magic)
Morgaine Of Evil (Potions)
Malefact (Quasi-Existential Magic)

KMBS was large: in addition to a dedicated board (i.e. classroom) for each subject, and three for each house (house itself, common room and dormitories), there were many areas of the school in which 'extra-curricular' storylines unfolded, such as:

Familiars' Quarters (where students kept their pets)
The Kitchen
The Library (with a librarian, Callimpsest, played by Drassil)
The School Yard (which featured a statue, The Tin Child, named in honour of Tim Child)

Emii remained a driving force behind KMBS, designing a uniform and map (both pictured here), and playing Kulaemii, one of the Deputy Headmistresses (PhoenixFlame was the other).

There was more enthusiasm among members for KMBS' roleplay storylines than for its lessons. Accordingly, a new roleplay forum covering the school's surrounds was created, into which plots and characters from KMBS could, and did, expand or cross over. As KMBS' popularity waned, Knightmare Roleplay grew.

In April 2004, Emii closed the KMBS forum, citing 'lack of activity on the members' part and moderation on the admins' part'. The school was then recreated as a board/location within Knightmare Roleplay, and has played host to various storylines since. However, it did not restart as a functioning school, and in story terms, the Knightmare Boarding School was abandoned due to structural instability. This would have been a sad end for one of the Knightmare community's most vibrant and imaginative ventures, had it been the end.

2017 saw the conclusion of a part-retcon story that crossed via time travel between KMBS of the past (the original KMBS forum) and latter-day Wolfenden and KMBS (Knightmare Roleplay), in which Callimpsest and Young Grimwold used Aesandre's magic to restore the school library to its former glory. It is implied that the support of the Powers That Be will be enlisted to protect the library for posterity, with Callimpsest taking up residence again.

The original KMBS forum is here.

[Images courtesy of The Crystal Labyrinth.

Earlier versions of this entry: 2011-07-07 17:56:21, 2006-08-01 16:55:22, 2007-01-21 20:12:06]

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The predecessor to Surrounds (Knightmare Roleplay), KMBS was a Knightmare themed school which taught magic, until it was closed.

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