Route 29: ｍｏｄｓ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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route_10652013-10-25 09:14 pm
these_balls) wrote in route_10652013-10-25 09:14 pm
Entry tags:
NIGHTMARE PLOT: DAY ONE — NIGHT TIME
Who: Nightmare Plot participants!
Where: ???
When: Friday, October 25 — NIGHT TIME
Summary: Night falls, monsters attack, and Bad Boys 2 accurately sums it up.
Rating: PG in general; please mark threads that go higher accordingly!
Log:
STILL HERE. BUT THIS TIME IT'S OUT TO GET YOU.
KEY:
• RED areas are inaccessible regions of the castle! How they're inaccessible will vary from place to place (and from person to person), so players are encouraged to be creative in making up reasons why their characters can't get in to those areas if they try. For example, they might find the door to be locked or jammed; they might find a section of wall has collapsed and blocked off the corridor; they might just run into an invisible wall or a lingering patch of obscuring fog that ultimately deters them. They might even discover a rather unpleasant-looking monster hanging around and decide they'd rather not take the chance; the sky's the limit here, but the reasons for the same door being blocked can vary from person to person, and we encourage you to use this to add to the IC confusion if you so desire!
• BROWN areas are secret passages! It won't be immediately obvious that these areas exist (naturally, being secret), but with some diligence and careful inspection, characters can find the opening and get inside. Whether it's from lifting a secret latch or just figuring out the wall is hollow and bashing the thing down, of course, is up to player discretion!
• AREA A — the Spooky Garden. — ROOM CHANGES — 10/28/13
The obvious object of note here is the pretty fountain bubbling merrily away in the center of this odd little patch of indoor flora; it's made of white marble and is your standard three-tier affair, surrounded by a modest "courtyard" of grass and wildflowers. The animal sculptures are probably Pokemon you recognize...though on second glance they look more like something you're pretty sure you saw back home...and come to think of it, on third glance they're starting to get a little unsettling somehow. Strange! However, if you can stand the spooky company, it's a fairly quiet place to sit and unwind. Maybe you'll be generous and throw P10 into the waters? Or maybe you'll dig in there and retrieve other people's contributions for your own benefit. Either way, be careful when you look into the water; who knows what faces you might see reflected!
• AREA B — the Grand Hall. — ROOM CHANGES — 10/28/13
This is where you and your fellowinmates visitors have woken up; everyone will originate here upon the start of the plot, but there's absolutely no restriction on how long you have to stay there, so feel free to take off running as soon as you like. If you decide to stay, though, you'll notice it's a fairly big room, generally rectangular, with walls of gray stone and a healthy coating of dust and cobwebs over most every surface. All things considered, there's not a lot actually in here: some scattered rubble, scraps of wood, tattered cloth, empty sconces on the wall. Poke around a bit and you might find a candle or some other helpful odds and ends, but by and large this seems to be a token Big Empty Room — not particularly helpful for anything but holding people, all things considered.
• AREA C — the Overgrown Tower.
Watch your head as you enter this room; contrary to what you might expect from a tower room, the ceiling is surprisingly low, and the dangling vines might give you a fright if you walk into one without paying attention! There isn't much of note in this room, outside of the plants seeping through the cracks in the cold gray stone and the delicate scent of flowers lingering in the air; not much, that is, save for the wooden rocking horse standing stationary in the center of the room — what could that be doing there?
• AREA D — the Wine Cellar.
Pretty self-explanatory, this one; this room is stocked full of creaky old wine casks and dusty bottles of what is presumably ridiculously well-aged alcohol, along with assorted bottling tools and the other odds and ends you might find in an old-school winery. Alas, no free shot at hitting the bottle for you, minors; characters who would not ordinarily be eligible to drink in Route will find that even if they crack one of these bottles open, the liquid inside turns to old water — or refuses to come out at all.
• AREA E — the Kitchen. — ROOM CHANGES — 10/28/13
Like the Wine Cellar, this is also pretty self-explanatory; search the cupboards and you might find food. Whether or not you're willing to try eating it is entirely up to you — who knows what might be in it, or how long it's been there, after all — but no one's likely to starve; when characters aren't in the Kitchen, they won't find themselves to be particularly hungry, regardless of how long it's been since they've last eaten. When they go inside, hunger will set in, but if they'd rather not eat to remedy the problem, then alleviating it is as simple as just leaving the room.
• AREA F — the Hall of Tapestries. — ROOM CHANGES — 10/28/13
A nice, long, intimidating hallway with a high arched ceiling and faded tapestries lining the walls. Visitors with a healthy sense of paranoia might notice that this room is a classic example of a "kill box"; there's only one exit on either end and nowhere to hide in the middle. But certainly there's no reason to be frightened while walking alone down this long, empty, echoing corridor — though depending on your nerves, it might be a reason to pick up your pace.
• AREA G — the Decaying Library.
Though it doesn't seem to have seen a caretaker in quite some time, the library comes fully stocked with enough books to keep the literary-inclined busy for a while. There's at least some valid information to be found, most of it detailing a region that doesn't seem to be Johto or Kanto. Descriptions of Mount Coronet and the ruins of Celestic Town, as well as details about what appear to be the creation of the world can be found here, among other things — including the demented ramblings of a man who seems determined to destroy the world and remake it in his image, and the surely coincidental story of a tragedy that occurred in a large manor not entirely unlike the one you've awakened in...
• AREA H — the Hidden Dungeon.
Hopefully you'll never have reason to visit here, but if you've taken up residence in a set of our finest wall manacles, well...enjoy your stay, we suppose. This room is only accessible through the secret passage designated in brown; in the event that your character suffers a critical injury during the course of this plot, after whiting out they will end up in this room, presumably in chains. Hopefully they've got a friend who can pick locks, or who'll otherwise come to spring them from their confinement! If not, it might be a loooooong wait until someone happens by.
• AREA I — the Haunted Terrace.
This area is also accessible by secret passage, and if you've had the misfortune of coming here at night, you'll find it's quite the unappealing place to be — some of the patches of fog lurking about are actually monsters that will attack anyone who gets too close! The good news is, they'll only follow player characters as far as the end of the secret passage before turning back, but anything on the terrace or in the passage is fair game for an attack if you're not careful!
~
☆ NOTES ☆
• Remember, your chances of having a random encounter with a malevolent entity somewhere in the castle during the nighttime hours are approximately 50/50, with two exceptions: the chances of encountering a monster in the Haunted Terrace are 100%; the chances of encountering one in the Overgrown Tower are 0%. Aside from those two stipulations, it's up to player discretion whether or not you run into one, and how the encounter goes if you do!
• The monsters will be influenced by but not identical to spooky things that your characters have seen in their own canons. For example, Luke Skywalker may see hooded figures in black cloaks with glowing eyes; he may not see Emperor Palpatine. Leon Kennedy may see a shambling monster with protruding spikes; he may not see an Iron Maiden. TL;DR: your character may see a generic monster with similar attributes to things they've seen in canon; they may not see specific monsters, people, and etc. from their canons.
• Characters are allowed to fight the monsters! You can flee from them, fight them, attempt to talk to them (but why would you), whatever! If they attack you, it will hurt but leave no apparent physical damage; characters will just find themselves exhausted and in pain. If a character is subject to too many attacks, they will white out and appear in shackles in Area H, the Hidden Dungeon, and they will either have to break out or someone will have to come rescue them.
• This log is for NIGHTTIME INTERACTIONS ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25 only! The log for Day One interactions is here, and other interactions throughout the course of the plot should be made in characters' own journals.
• If you have any questions, you can always ask us here at the INQUIRIES HOTLINE!
~
☆ QUICK LINKS ☆
AREA A — the Spooky Garden | AREA B — the Grand Hall | AREA C — the Overgrown Tower | AREA D — the Wine Cellar | AREA E — the Kitchen
AREA F — the Hall of Tapestries | AREA G — the Decaying Library | AREA H — the Hidden Dungeon | AREA I — the Haunted Terrace
GENERAL — Other Castle Locations
Where: ???
When: Friday, October 25 — NIGHT TIME
Summary: Night falls, monsters attack, and Bad Boys 2 accurately sums it up.
Rating: PG in general; please mark threads that go higher accordingly!
Log:
STILL HERE. BUT THIS TIME IT'S OUT TO GET YOU.
KEY:
• BROWN areas are secret passages! It won't be immediately obvious that these areas exist (naturally, being secret), but with some diligence and careful inspection, characters can find the opening and get inside. Whether it's from lifting a secret latch or just figuring out the wall is hollow and bashing the thing down, of course, is up to player discretion!
• AREA A — the Spooky Garden. — ROOM CHANGES — 10/28/13
The obvious object of note here is the pretty fountain bubbling merrily away in the center of this odd little patch of indoor flora; it's made of white marble and is your standard three-tier affair, surrounded by a modest "courtyard" of grass and wildflowers. The animal sculptures are probably Pokemon you recognize...though on second glance they look more like something you're pretty sure you saw back home...and come to think of it, on third glance they're starting to get a little unsettling somehow. Strange! However, if you can stand the spooky company, it's a fairly quiet place to sit and unwind. Maybe you'll be generous and throw P10 into the waters? Or maybe you'll dig in there and retrieve other people's contributions for your own benefit. Either way, be careful when you look into the water; who knows what faces you might see reflected!
• AREA B — the Grand Hall. — ROOM CHANGES — 10/28/13
This is where you and your fellow
• AREA C — the Overgrown Tower.
Watch your head as you enter this room; contrary to what you might expect from a tower room, the ceiling is surprisingly low, and the dangling vines might give you a fright if you walk into one without paying attention! There isn't much of note in this room, outside of the plants seeping through the cracks in the cold gray stone and the delicate scent of flowers lingering in the air; not much, that is, save for the wooden rocking horse standing stationary in the center of the room — what could that be doing there?
• AREA D — the Wine Cellar.
Pretty self-explanatory, this one; this room is stocked full of creaky old wine casks and dusty bottles of what is presumably ridiculously well-aged alcohol, along with assorted bottling tools and the other odds and ends you might find in an old-school winery. Alas, no free shot at hitting the bottle for you, minors; characters who would not ordinarily be eligible to drink in Route will find that even if they crack one of these bottles open, the liquid inside turns to old water — or refuses to come out at all.
• AREA E — the Kitchen. — ROOM CHANGES — 10/28/13
Like the Wine Cellar, this is also pretty self-explanatory; search the cupboards and you might find food. Whether or not you're willing to try eating it is entirely up to you — who knows what might be in it, or how long it's been there, after all — but no one's likely to starve; when characters aren't in the Kitchen, they won't find themselves to be particularly hungry, regardless of how long it's been since they've last eaten. When they go inside, hunger will set in, but if they'd rather not eat to remedy the problem, then alleviating it is as simple as just leaving the room.
• AREA F — the Hall of Tapestries. — ROOM CHANGES — 10/28/13
A nice, long, intimidating hallway with a high arched ceiling and faded tapestries lining the walls. Visitors with a healthy sense of paranoia might notice that this room is a classic example of a "kill box"; there's only one exit on either end and nowhere to hide in the middle. But certainly there's no reason to be frightened while walking alone down this long, empty, echoing corridor — though depending on your nerves, it might be a reason to pick up your pace.
• AREA G — the Decaying Library.
Though it doesn't seem to have seen a caretaker in quite some time, the library comes fully stocked with enough books to keep the literary-inclined busy for a while. There's at least some valid information to be found, most of it detailing a region that doesn't seem to be Johto or Kanto. Descriptions of Mount Coronet and the ruins of Celestic Town, as well as details about what appear to be the creation of the world can be found here, among other things — including the demented ramblings of a man who seems determined to destroy the world and remake it in his image, and the surely coincidental story of a tragedy that occurred in a large manor not entirely unlike the one you've awakened in...
• AREA H — the Hidden Dungeon.
Hopefully you'll never have reason to visit here, but if you've taken up residence in a set of our finest wall manacles, well...enjoy your stay, we suppose. This room is only accessible through the secret passage designated in brown; in the event that your character suffers a critical injury during the course of this plot, after whiting out they will end up in this room, presumably in chains. Hopefully they've got a friend who can pick locks, or who'll otherwise come to spring them from their confinement! If not, it might be a loooooong wait until someone happens by.
• AREA I — the Haunted Terrace.
This area is also accessible by secret passage, and if you've had the misfortune of coming here at night, you'll find it's quite the unappealing place to be — some of the patches of fog lurking about are actually monsters that will attack anyone who gets too close! The good news is, they'll only follow player characters as far as the end of the secret passage before turning back, but anything on the terrace or in the passage is fair game for an attack if you're not careful!
☆ NOTES ☆
• Remember, your chances of having a random encounter with a malevolent entity somewhere in the castle during the nighttime hours are approximately 50/50, with two exceptions: the chances of encountering a monster in the Haunted Terrace are 100%; the chances of encountering one in the Overgrown Tower are 0%. Aside from those two stipulations, it's up to player discretion whether or not you run into one, and how the encounter goes if you do!
• The monsters will be influenced by but not identical to spooky things that your characters have seen in their own canons. For example, Luke Skywalker may see hooded figures in black cloaks with glowing eyes; he may not see Emperor Palpatine. Leon Kennedy may see a shambling monster with protruding spikes; he may not see an Iron Maiden. TL;DR: your character may see a generic monster with similar attributes to things they've seen in canon; they may not see specific monsters, people, and etc. from their canons.
• Characters are allowed to fight the monsters! You can flee from them, fight them, attempt to talk to them (but why would you), whatever! If they attack you, it will hurt but leave no apparent physical damage; characters will just find themselves exhausted and in pain. If a character is subject to too many attacks, they will white out and appear in shackles in Area H, the Hidden Dungeon, and they will either have to break out or someone will have to come rescue them.
• This log is for NIGHTTIME INTERACTIONS ON FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25 only! The log for Day One interactions is here, and other interactions throughout the course of the plot should be made in characters' own journals.
• If you have any questions, you can always ask us here at the INQUIRIES HOTLINE!
☆ QUICK LINKS ☆
AREA F — the Hall of Tapestries | AREA G — the Decaying Library | AREA H — the Hidden Dungeon | AREA I — the Haunted Terrace
GENERAL — Other Castle Locations
☆ AREA G — THE DECAYING LIBRARY ☆
NOTE: Please feel free to be creative within the bounds of this setting; we encourage it! Nightmare Castle is a very dreamlike world, so things don't necessarily have to make sense 100% of the time, and the experience may be slightly different for everyone. If you have any questions, please contact us via the Inquiries Hotline, linked above, and we'll get back to you ASAP.]
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[ monster monster monster]
[It's coming from everywhere but there's nobody fucking there, no matter how many times Blake spins around and seeks out the source with hunted eyes.]
[all holy innocents]
Shut up! Shut the fuck up!
[unclean spirit]
[you robber of life you corrupter of justice]
[There's nobody there, and when Blake spins around once more, he's face-to-face with him.]
[The man's skin is as white as corpse. He's too starved and thin to be standing, and his arms hang too long. Where his eyes should be are two black pits.]
[His mouth moves. He stares straight ahead, spidery hands at his sides twitching. The voice that comes out is a dry, weak thing, like air passing through hollow glass pipes.]
Give place, abominable creature.
[Blake turns and runs.]
[He doesn't look where he's going. He barely sees the library around him, only gets a glance of the rotting bookshelves and the crucifixes hanging from the ceiling. It only takes a few seconds for the terror to turn into desperate anger. Fuck it. Fuck it. If something is after him, he will kill it first.]
[He throws his eyes around the room. They hit the curtain rods with those old-fashioned fancy ends that come to a point.]
[As fast as he can move, he climbs up on a shelf that's by the wall and yanks one down, nearly falling off and breaking his damn neck in the process. Metal screeches and clatters.]
[The quiet is thick after that. Just Blake's ragged breathing as he stands by the door, weapon ready, waiting.]
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[Lancer seemed incredibly calm about the whole matter, hands in his pockets and ungodly terrible Hawaiian shirt practically glowing in the dismal environment. He seemed to be wandering aimlessly more than what seemed to be the standard 'panicked chaos' most others seemed to be in.]
[Sticking his head in the door, Lancer regarded the mess with a low whistle before noticing Blake. He raised an eyebrow at the sight before mild surprise turned to a bright grin full of overly-sharp canines.]
Hey, you're lookin' pretty pale there. I bet you could use some backup, huh?
[Is this guy insane, or just completely unfazed by the supernatural?]
[(It's both.)]
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[At least, it saves him from being stabbed with a curtain rod.]
[It's the first bright color Blake's seen in this damn place, and it's clearly not the thing that's after him. He lowers his makeshift spear and his glare turns to a much more everyday one.]
Fucking right I could! The hell is going on here?
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[Shrug. The amount of fucks this man doesn't yet give are off the charts.]
This is some crazy shit, ain't it? I'm guessin' you're just as confused as everybody else over where we are and what this place is, huh?
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Oh, you're fine. Just going out for a stroll in Haunted Batshit Palace, no big fuckin' deal. Nothing to worry about.
[He sets the curtain rod upright so he can lean on it, and cranes his neck to look out the door behind the guy. Seeing if he was followed.]
If you got any ideas, I'm ready to hear 'em.
goddammit dw stop letting me click shit i don't want to >:V
Short of 'try not to die', I'm fresh out of clever plans. What about you?
I do that constantly
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Dante just might've met the same creature Blake had stumbled on a few minutes ago. What he heard and saw may have differed from Blake's, but it was terrible enough to have him shove the door open in a wild attempt at running away from the manifestation of his past sins.]
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[A dark shape looms in the doorway. With a surge of adrenaline, Blake yells and tries to smack it on the head with his his scavenged weapon.]
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[Before he can get a good look at it, it swipes at him, knocking his legs out from under him and sending him down hard to the floor. He kicks back and tries to scramble away with a surge of panic. He knows down to his bones that he can't let thing this get a hold of him.]
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It is, however, Parker — and why she's here at night is actually rather hard to say; getting to the Library meant traveling through the Killbox Hallway (or rather, the Hall of Tapestries), and that's just plain stupid under any circumstances, much less actively hostile ones.
But she's taking her chances on it now because she's lost track of Ishimaru, and it occurred to her a few minutes prior (with mounting horror) that he might be trapped in the Library and unable to make it back out to relative safety, and if he's in danger, then she's going in to get him. That's just how it is.
And that's why Blake will hear her coming before he sees her, footsteps whispering in rapid cadence across the stone floor as she charges at full tilt for the Library door and prepares to hurtle inside.]
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[Blake has the curtain rod up to swing and take his pursuer's head off right when he remembers the monster had been quiet.]
[Instead, when something comes flying through the door he jumps back.]
Holy fuck!
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...
Oh. That's not a monster. That's Punchapalooza Guy.
...
Where's a chair to bludgeon him with.]
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[But the monster sure as hell wasn't blond.]
[Warily, Blake comes closer for a better look in the dim light. His weapon drops low as he makes out the face of the last person he was expecting to see.]
You're that thief.
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He's found that even if he swats them away, they come back, leaving him with one option: to run.
In one hand, he's carrying a piece of wood he's carved to a point using kitchen knives. One his belt, he's got an assortment of butter knives and a few steak knives thrown in. And, while he had hoped the library would provide a safe spot to catch his breath, the sight of Blake and his own makeshift weapon dash his hopes.
He skids to a halt on the other side of the door, panting.]
Don't tell me I missed all the fun...
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[He lowers it and his shoulders sag with relief.]
I've never been gladder to see a kid with stupid hair and a shitload of knives. [That was actually pretty smart, arming himself.] Where'd you get those?
[His eyes go to the darkness behind the door.]
As for fun, that depends. Anybody following you?
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[He chuckles before casting a glance over his shoulder, and--
Aw, great. Those sure are claws swiping at his ribs. Eyes narrowed, Riku shoves his spear at one of the monsters and groans.]
And yeah, looks like these creeps can't get enough of me. You'd think they'd get a clue after I stabbed all their buddies.
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[There's a little boy there, dripping water, but something wrong with him even before he lashes out faster than a human should be able to move]
[The little paper birds on its shoulders flutter when Rick smacks it away. It takes Blake a long second of standing frozen before he thinks to lend a hand, and jabs at it with his weapon too.]
[he growls] Fuckin' things, that's no little kid-
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He can't handle much more of this. He's alone, he's lost, and he doesn't have his team there to protect him. He's hungry and exhausted and he wants nothing more than to wake up and have this all be a horrible nightmare.
When he sees Blake standing in the library, wielding a metal bar in his direction, Shaun doesn't see the man himself as much as he sees one of the monsters he's been running from, and he can still hear the rain and feel the wet chill all over his skin, and he does what any little boy would do in that position.
He screams.]
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[For an instant, they wear the same look of horror.]
[But this kid is alive, and it's somebody he hasn't seen outside of a nightmare in a long time. Blake's expression changes to surprise.] You?
[And then he's screaming. It doesn't feel great to provoke instant terror from a child, but it proves he's real, at least.]
[Blake waves his hand in front of him.] Kid-- Shaun! Calm down! I'm not gonna hurt you--
[The shadows in the doorway are still moving. Beneath the sound of his scream, there's a thin, rhythmic wheeze.]
[The figure fills the door. It's a hulking, shapeless thing with a blackened, rotted shield shape on its shoulder, wrapped in a coat that drips rain.]
[Blake grabs Shaun by the arm and yanks him out of the way.]
[He charges at the thing and jams the pointy end of the rod into its stomach.]
[It falls back and momentum carries him with it until it hits the ground and he lands on top, knee sinking sickeningly into its gut. He wrenches his weapon free and stabs it viciously into the mass of the thing again and again. A flailing limb hits him across the face and there's a wave of heavy, lurching pain that Carter doesn't have time to let slow him down.]
[As the thing thrashes and bleeds muddy water, it gurgles his name.]
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He staggers and reels when he's grabbed, sprawling on the floor with a yelp of pain that snaps him out of the foggy haze of fatigue and pain. Scrambling back upright, he watches in horror as Blake jumps on the monster that had attacked him, stabbing it again and again and again, and Shaun's heart is up in his throat, blocking it off so he can't scream, only watch horrorstruck from his place on the floor as the wheezing turns into desperate, breathy howls and a gurgle of Blake's name before the monster goes still for one terrible moment and then fades into mist, leaving only the man breathing heavily and still armed, and the boy choking on half-eaten ends of a scream, his eyes wide and fear-stricken, his face ashen.]
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[For a second the stones are slick with water in the flat shape of a man. Then that's gone too. Blake's ragged breathing rings loud in the quiet.]
[He braces himself on the curtain rod and gets to his feet, though for a second there's a wave of dizziness and god, he's tired. But he has things to take care of.]
Kid. [His voice was rough and guttural.] Shaun. You okay?
[He goes over to him, quick as he can manage.]
It's all right now. That thing's dead.
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No, she's going to move quickly towards her sister, aiming to be quiet and managing to stay out of the creature's sight until she's within reach of Serah. It's with one arm that she reaches out to grab Serah. The other, knife still in hand, comes up to make a shushing gesture and then gesture towards the door out of here. Yes, sister. It's time to go.]