Panophobia (IC Thread)

[Katie]

Gwendolyn Bright
8:07
Dining Room, 1F, East Wing

No, this was not happening, this was extremely illogical, there had to be some prank involving a display and a really crazy monitor because this was just so thin and literally impossible by current technology standards and the more she thought about this the more it didn’t really make any sense and she would have to throw it to the side.

“…She says there’s a monster somewhere. It got someone.” Quickly, precisely. She’d memorize the name and save it for later, but she had to relay the weird information now and she didn’t want to turn around because who knows, maybe there was some crazy serial killer or ghost around willing to tear them apart. Couldn’t be worse than confronting this creepy mirror with the literal ghost child inside and why was she just taking this all in without trying to even remotely contest…

“I’ll stay here and interpret, you check for places we can bolt.”

A command. With the way her lips are moving, the girl in the mirror was babbling too fast for most people to catch, but Gwen had picked up the habit of seeing what customers swore under their breath, especially if they were assholes. Morbid curiosity, but it finally came in handy.

[RacingeR]

Jill Dumont
8:07 AM
Gallery, 1F, West Wing

Jill’s mind was abuzz, identifying the portraits and wondering how they connected to each other, the creeping, vacant glances falling over her as she looked at them one by one. She couldn’t say she was coming up with much on this whole thing, but it was certainly very interesting. And curious. She stored the names ‘Willingston’ and ‘Defenbach’ in her memory for later investigation when she was back home. For now, though…

“I wonder why… the portraits and the busts don’t match. I mean, why even make a bust of the dude screaming on the first place? Bunch of weirdos.” Jill said, staring away from the portraits and back to the family portrait.

She blinked.

She could’ve absolutely sworn the family in the portrait had been smiling, not looking like they were shitting themselves in terror. She’d make a comment about horror movies right about now, but she suddenly wasn’t in the mood to.

Upon hearing the teach’s comment, Jill stared at the man with analytical eyes, wondering how she should approach this. After pondering for a moment, she decided to simply ask him.

“Knew them?”

[arkturus]

Kat
8:08
Game Room, 1F, East Wing

"Wha-"

It took a couple moments for Kat to begin to regain control of her voice. The cherry and comical mood from before was gone.

What the fuck was that?

It was the first time that she had seen anything like it. Even if it was only a glimpse she could hardly speak. It was something so wrong that it went beyond simply strange.

It was otherworldy.

Yet stranger still was the nagging feeling that this experience was somehow...familiar. Vaguely she could remember images, words, feelings that were not her own. She remembered her weird aunt May, who claimed to be a spirit medium. How when they first met she grasped her hands strongly and told her that she had a gift, an innate talent that could one day continue the secrets of their blood. She brushed it off at the time, thinking her aunt was just slightly off her rocker.

Maybe she was just seeing things.

"You didn't see that? That didn't seem like it was just some guy who was hiding in the closet. I swear I saw a fucking weird...monster leg. With tumors and shit, disappear into that corner." The girl pointed, stumbling over her words, still trying to get a grasp on what exactly she saw. Taking a sword out of the trash bag, Kat cautiously approached the corner she saw the thing disappear into and poked it tentatively. She hoped that it was nothing but deep down she knew that she would be more relieved if she hit something. Then she could know that she wasn't just going crazy.

[Airen]

Sarah Parker
8:07
Dining Room, 1F, East Wing

"..."

Listening to the quiet, precise translation of the girl behind her, the now kneeling Sarah, having seen something so incredibly blatant that even she had been surprised by it, can feel her heart rate start to increase, even if only by so much.

"Monster..."

Sarah's eyes had gotten sad.

Even though the sight of a crying girl in the mirror should be more terrifying than anything else, beneath the first inklings of fear is another emotion, born simply out of her role as an older sister seeing a younger girl crying, a girl closer in age to her actual sister crying.

A hint of anger.

"I see... Alright, I'll do what I can."

Talking not just to Gwen, but also the girl in the mirror, Sarah turns, sweeping the flashlight from one part of the room to the other, aiming first and foremost, to check and make sure that the door they had come through hadn't been suddenly blocked by any sort of monster.

At least they knew what was in that direction after all.

Namely, the others.

[Mormarth]

Jacob & Kat
8:08
Game Room, 1F, East Wing

As Katrina scurries over towards the corner, worriedly prodding it, searching for the great, ephemeral limb that scurried away into the corner, vanishing like a midnight's terror. Jacob excitedly examines the broken Television, twisting his flashlight round and round the twisted interior of the CRT, searching for any abnormalities to stroke his growing ecstasy.

Out of the corner of his eye, he spots something in one of the remaining shards of the Television screen, a reflection of a person.

He whirls around to see if the indistinct figure is standing in the middle of the room, as the reflection would seem to indicate, but his eyes grasp only empty air.

He twists back around, squinting at the dark glass, then opens his eyes wide.

It's not a person at all, it's like a silhouette, an imprint where a person once was. You've seen something similar when you looked up pictures of shadows imprinted on walls after Little Boy dropped onto Hiroshima.

[Hungry Shadow Encountered!]

It's looming over Katrina, still poking around the corner, searching for that monstrous limb, something glints where its hand would be.

Jill + Remington
8:07 AM
Gallery, 1F, West Wing

Remington nodded slowly, eyes distant, "Yeah, was good friends with Ethan when we were kids, runnin' around, getting into all kindsa crap. Must've been, what, 20, 25 years now?"

He sighed, "Looking back, all you can think of is how you could've done things differently, better, y'know? Maybe I could've talked him out of getting this place, people say it's cursed. Everybody who's lived here either bailed early or, well..."

He gestured at the paintings, "They end up dead, or 'missing', like the Carters."

[Clue Gained - History of Horror, Whatever's been going on in this place, it's been happening for a while, and the Carters weren't the first.]

He shook his head again, "Damn shame."

Remington glanced around the room once more, "We look pretty good in here, reckon you're done?"

[Bloble]

Jacob Hopeman
8:08
Game Room, 1F, East Wing

Adrenaline surged through Jacob as he spotted the reflection. When he looked back, couldn't see it, and glimpsed it once more in the glass of the broken screen, standing over Kat, that shudder of excitement developed a hard edge to it.

"Kat." Jacob stood slowly, reaching with one hand for the hand mirror in his pocket, to test if it was just the television's glass or any reflective surface that would do, with the other hand going for the rapier, whose handle was sticking out of the poster tube slung across his back. The entire time he made sure to keep the thing within 'view', as much as the shitty reflection would allow.

"Duck."

[RacingeR]

Jill Dumont
8:07 AM
Gallery, 1F, West Wing

“Wow, the school actually sent us to a place people say its cursed. Can’t say I’m very impressed with our director at the moment.” Jill snarked, but then she shook her head. She looked around, but saw nothing much of interest. Damn, she both disliked and absolutely loved this place. It smelled of clues so hard that it was simply hard to contain her excitement.

Although she guessed she should be feeling bad for the teach. But she couldn’t help it, this house was simply scratching an itch that hadn’t been scratched for a while.

“I guess I’m done, yeah… we probably should go to the library next. Although, one thing. Which one is Ethan in this photo?” She asked, curious about the teacher's story. There was something fishy going on this place.

And that was wonderful.

[Mormarth]

Sarah + Gwen + Gost
8:07
Dining Room, 1F, East Wing

The Ghost, Lucy, gives you a shaky smile. It makes you feel good, and as Sarah watches the surroundings like an alerted lioness, Gwendoline continues interpreting for the ghost, utilizing the keen skills gained in long, tortuous hours of labor at the dreaded career of retail.

"Family... killed... Monster... Hurt them... Others too... Hurts..."

Her mouthing becomes too difficult to read for a moment, the phantom apparently overwhelmed by pain and terror and grief, sobbing into her hands soundlessly.

Time goes by awkwardly, the slow tension in the room rising.

Lucy looks up, frightened.

"Coming... coming... it's coming.... Bad Men... woke it up.... hurt it.... so much noise..."

She clamps her hands over her ears, as if deafened by some great cacophony of sound that is imperceptible to you.

"Run...!"

A great, dark presence fills the room, and you can see the light from your flashlights grow dimmer in its presence.

The 'Monster', whatever it is, has almost arrived. It appears to be coming from the south side of the mansion, from what your limited instincts can tell you.

The exits are to the north, into the kitchen, east, into some sort of den, or back into the main foyer.

Though I doubt that last one would be to your liking.

Jill & Teach
8:07 AM
Gallery, 1F, West Wing

Remington snorted, "Good luck finding a place in this town that doesn't have some sordid history."

He eyes you seriously, "Really, the only reason we don't have all those bullshit ghost explorers crawling up and down is that no one's even heard of this place, it's like a place divorced from the rest of the world. Things happen here, and no one gives 'em a second thought."

Then he blinks, "Ethan, oh, that's him." He taps on what you assume to be the father in the picture, "Never could get how they got married, thought I was the pretty one, but he always got the ladies."

He shakes his head, holding up a bare left hand, "Barren as the Moon here, but enough about me, let's get moving, yeah?"

[arkturus]

Kat
8:08
Game Room, 1F, East Wing

Normally Kat wasn't the kind of girl to follow orders. During a game she'd brush off all the "suggestions" given by the coach and just did what came naturally to her.

But this shit wasn't natural.

Whether it was the edge in his voice, the eerie feeling of the house, her heightened sensitivity to the supernatural, her recent close encounter of a third kind, or a mixture of them all she listened to the weird boy. In a split second she had crouched low and turned to face Jacob, the tip of the sword resting on the floor.

She couldn't see anything behind her. Confused, she was about to stand up again and ask Jacob about it but then she saw it. A slight glint.

There, reflected in the dim light of Jacob's eye was a shadow, holding something shiny in its hand.

A surge of Adrenalin overcame Kat. Was it that monster from before? No time to find out.

In a swift motion, Kat gripped the bastard sword in her hand and flung her hand skywards. The blade whistled as it sliced through the air.

[Mormarth]

Jacob and Kat vs The Shadow
8:08
Game Room, 1F, East Wing

Jacob hissed out a warning, and as quick as a rattlesnake, Katrina whirled, foot easily pivoting from the training she had once done when she'd gone out for baseball.

The fact she was thrown off the team means nothing, but that batting experience lent a hand as well, as her metallic, sharp 'bat' carved upwards through the air, iron gleaming in the glow of the flashlight.

[Hungry Shadow aspect revealed as Phantom]
[Bastard Sword aspect: Iron, deals increased damage to spiritual foes.]

Katrina's 'acquired' blade met resistance, surprisingly, but only for a brief moment, a white flash of light sparking out from the point of impact, and a thin, reedy sound screeched through the stale air of the Game Room. Light bloomed in the dark room, as the shadow recoiled from your strike, and you could see, in your mind's eye, it was grievously wounded.

It skittered away a few feet, a chair and some side tables being knocked aside in its thrashings, and then-

Nothing.

It faded away, as vanishing and ephemeral as the shadow it was.

Pitiful.

Still, victory was yours, you supposed.
======
Learning Corner

[A light flicks on in the dark, revealing a whiteboard]

Ah, hello, welcome to the Learning Corner, here is where you will be educated on some game mechanics that were previously explained in Bold Text, but from henceforth shall be explained here.

Now, I shall educate on the different types of spirits that have appeared thus far in the story, some of you who might be more spiritually educated or nerdy may even know this in-character!

Firstly, we have the standard spirit.

[A poorly drawn picture of the Ghostly Lucy appears]

A soul left behind after a person has died, usually in a sudden, or violent manner. These souls, unable to properly come to grips with their passing, are usually prey for other, bigger supernatural predators, but, they do not consume their souls, no, what they consume...

Is their identity, the hard core that allows a spirit to take a comprehensible form and shape and properly exert their will in a meaningful way besides some petulant flailing. Should this be devoured by some sort of predator, the spirit will devolve and become-

[The picture fades, and a dark-colored floating bed sheet type of ghost appears on the board]

A shadow, a pitiful, almost mindless creature, pretty much the chaff of the Supernatural World, scavengers, hangers-on, likely following in the path of whatever this monster is and picking up the scraps. Pretty much any joe-schmoe is capable of stomping these things into the dirt. As Miss Auburn so kindly demonstrated, any meaningful display of force against a shadow will smash it to so many ghost-bits, having no solid core of identity to form up around.

Now, it is still a Phantom, a ghost. So it can't really be injured just by punching it, unless, say, you are spiritually sensitive in some way, again, like Miss Auburn.

Really, who was the idiot who let her get away with that. They should be smacked around.

Now, do not be discouraged, as you saw in the post above, Iron is very effective against spiritual beings, phantoms, spirits, some types of faery and so on.

Really, it was like swatting a bug, I felt like giving you a bit of a scare, and this goes to introduce you to some of the less-friendly denizens of the other side, while also not putting you in too much danger. This is the Pilot, after all.

Now then, let's return back to the show, and see what's going on in the Library.
=====
Jill 'n the Teach
8:08
Library, 1F, West Wing

You enter through a pair of wooden doors, entering into a large room lined with bookcases on every wall but one, into which is built a fireplace. A once-comfortable armchair stands slightly off-center, ragged and eaten away by moths and years.

It's a complete wreck, papers are strewn all across the floor, some torn out of pages, some just trash from wherever.

Remington growls, "Bunch of stupid apes they all are. Just wreckin' shit cause they can. I mean, who cares, gonna knock the whole place down, might as well wreck up the place."

He spits, "Who ever heard of having some fucking respect for the dead."

You cast your eyes across the room, interest piqued by the previous room's curiosities.

A book lying open on one of the tables, half-obscured by papers.

A map spread out on a desk, probably from the workers.

Hm, for some reason, these stand out to you, perhaps you should examine them closer?

[Bloble]

Jacob Hopeman
8:08
Game Room, 1F, East Wing

For a minute Jacob allowed himself to stay tense. He gently wiggled the piece of glass in which he'd seen the ghost's reflection out of the television, then used it and the handy hand mirror from his touch-up kit to do a quick sweep of the room.

Nothing.

He sighed.

"That was a good swing there." He licked his lips. "What an arm, what an arm! Don't suppose it landed you a spot here, did it?"

He was just joking around. Trying to relieve some of the tension. If it worked for Johnson... well no, that was a bad comparision. Johnson was an insufferable prick, while Jacob liked to consider himself a prick of the more tolerable variety.

[Tobias]

Tak w/ Leon
8:07
Study, 1F

The random crack caught Tak off guard as he turned to blink owlishly at Leon.

Then he hunched over himself laughing almost uncontrollably.

"Ha! oh man, 'yourshelf', even I didn't think of that one! Hoho, dude, that one was terrible...I love it." Tak said grinning.

"Dog hair? Can I see that? This may sound odd, but i'm not sure I couldn't use that. Hey, it would save me money on Sokuku's Christmas gift! Tak said, briefly thumbing through the pages.

Of course, that didn't last long. A hidden button in a library? This house was rapidly proving itself to be pretty awesome. Of course, that was the kinda thing that probably should be left alone, they were just here to clean. At the very least, before something like that should be investigated, you should grab one of the teachers, that would be the standard reaction.

But Tak just shook his head in dismay at Leon's quite sensible moment of forethought.

"Leon, Leon! Come on man, you can't act like that!" Tak admonished, quite possibly more serious then he had been at any point thus far. "You know what makes a main character!? It's not fancy magic weapons, beautiful women in love with you, or super powers..."

Tak walked over to the bookshelf with an air of entirely undeserved authority. "If you want to be a main character, you gotta have guts!" Tak said, slamming his finger into the hidden switch.

[Mormarth]

Tak and the power of Leon
8:07
Study, 1F

You peer through the thick, ancient volume. The weight of knowledge long forgot seeping into your willing brain, words cast down by unfeeling automatons and edited by sneering servants gifting you knowledge beyond that of mortal ken.

[Secret Learnt - Cainid Hair Knitting]

But at what cost?

Anyway, after that the button was pushed as per normal.

With this expression of Tak's testicular fortitude sure to have the womenfolk swooning, the bookcase shook.

Clunking and clanking and rotating gears, and then a small, humble click as the book repository swung forth as if it was a door on a hinge.

The strong scent of dust and musty old books clawed at his nostrils, the smell of age and time and forgotten secrets.

Leon, chafing at your accusation of his lack of courage, peered into whatever lay behind the bookcase, swinging his flashlight about curiously.

Then he clicked it off.

"Hey, there's a window in here, I can see the light from outside."

Indeed, as Tak peered around the bookcase, there was light shining from a window just above head-height on a wall, illuminating what seemed to be some sort of secret study.

Some tomes were stacked upon a small, unassuming desk surrounded by innocent candles peeking up out of what seemed to be human skulls.

Cheery.

"Huh, well, I guess there's less impressive ways to hide a porn stash."

With that, Leon strode into the room proper, promptly picking up one of the scattered journals and flicking through it.

"Huh, weird, looks like some kinda manifest for some UniCorp stiffs, I heard they bought this place briefly, way back when they were baby business. Think it was for some kinda time-share thing."

He continued flipping through it, frowning.

Some further journals awaited, and, out of lack of anything else to do, a sense of curiosity overpowering better, non-existent judgement, you entered the secret study.

But then you paused, some instinct in your gut churning, like something was coming. Something powerful and hungry.

You heard it before you saw it, scratching at the window.

The General had come to greet the troops.

[arkturus]

Jacob and Kat vs The Shadow
8:08
Game Room, 1F, East Wing

Kat held the follow through of her swing, the arm clutching the sword still flung outwards, panting. Adrenaline was still flowing, her pulse was still racing as she wondered if that Shadow was really gone.

It was Jacob that broke the silence. It was a dumb joke, but a welcomed one none the less. It had an air of familiarity similar to tryouts trash talk.

"Heh. But of course! You're looking at the number one batter in Fairfield, both alive and dead!" She stood up and gave the boy a cheery peace sign.

[Tobias]

Tak and the power of Leon
8:08
Study, 1F

Secret doors in the library were a classic of many different genres. Tak was hoping for one that lead to a special event, like a sexy ghost waiting to be released. Going from a section full of old, musty books to some even older, mustier old books was not precisely what he had in mind.

"Huh, well, I guess there's less impressive ways to hide a porn stash." Leon stated blandly.

"Heh," Tak chuckled back. "well, its thematically appropriate for some porn, isn't it? I mean, look, its filled with hard bones!" Tak said, rapping one of the rather macabre candle holders for emphasis.

The expression faded from his face as he looked around. Joking aside, secret rooms usually had a point. Usually to hide or protect something. But Tak didn't see any early additions or signed books, it was just some old journals and dust, as far as he could tell. Maybe if that detective girl were here, she would be like "AHA! these books are in the narcissistic unholy shelving method, the calls are coming from the upstairs bedroom! The murderer is one of us!" or something like that.

But for Tak, old books were just that, old books.

"I...don't get it" Tak admitted, picking up another journal and looking through it. "Is UniCorp some kind of big deal or something? Why go through all this trouble to stash these with some creepy candles?

Tak was about to look through the journals more closely when the hair on the back of his neck rose slightly.

They were not alone, his instincts told him that. Somewhere nearby, an eighty five pound predator had caught their scent. Tak turned to the only place where such a beast could have tracked them, the open window, and right back at him, a pair of canine eyes stared back at him hungrily, displaying a mouth full of white and very sharp teeth.

"...Hey boy." Tak said, with a somewhat rueful grin.

"At that, the large German Shepard whined and barked, clawing at the window with his front paws. Tak shook his head and strode over, throwing the simple latch. Come to think of it, odd to have a secret room with a window. Tak wasn't a detective, but that implied it had once been a regular room that had been converted in a hurry. Leon had said this had once been a time share. Maybe one part of the buyers had converted the room on the fly in the few days they had before their turn ended?

Tak's thoughts were interrupted when over eighty pounds of muscle and over one hundred and fifty pounds of drool barreled into him straight on and began covering his face with sloppy dog kisses.

"OK, OK, you found me, again! Ptoooey, dog slobber in my mouth, again!" The big canine finally pulled off his master, eyes bright and tail wagging. "Great, good dog. once again you have tracked me down. And once again, I am going to get yelled at for it, right boy?" Tak said, rising to his feet and brushing at some fresh dust his dog had kicked onto his shirt.

The big animal barked once, clearly in agreement, and looked ready to leap onto Tak once more. But before he could, Tak snapped his fingers once, loudly.

The change was rather dramatic. The massive ball of exuberance and energy quieted at once, both ears cocked up towards Tak attentively.

"Heel!" Tak commanded. And indeed, without a spread of hesitation or doubt, Lee walked over and came to rest beside Tak's left lead, waiting patiently for further orders.

Tak sighed and looked apologetically at Leon. "Sorry about the interruption. This is the second time today I have had a guy hanging all over me! I don't know how he always finds me. Don't hold it against him though, I know he seems like a major pain, but he is generally a good dog."

...

Tak waited for a moment with a bit of theatrics.

"Oh, hmm? did you want his name?" Tak said grinning. It was one of his favorite jokes, and one he had told a million times before. "I already told you, didn't I? I know he seems like a Major Pain, but he is General Lee, a good dog! Introduce yourself Lee."

At that, the General obliging barked at Leon and held out a paw, in a clear invitation to shake hands.

Wise Up!

Friend to all Animals
Spirit Attribute

Even if people find Tak off putting, Tak has an affinity for understanding and working with creatures of all types. In practice, it was this perk which caused Tak to bond so well with General Lee.

A sort of kindness inherent in the soul, a certain wild mischievousness innate in this sort of person. Unlike a domesticator, or some sort of trainer, this ability is more akin to the natural ability to commune with the wild and free souls so common in nature. Friendship blossoms easily from such a union, and those who have bonded with such a person are firm in their loyalty, foremost among them is the stalwart general, even now seeking his commander. Still, this kind of wildness isn't the kind that would fit in with normal people...

[Permits easier communication of intent and wants with certain animals, particularly those closer to humanity. Unlocks assistant character [General Lee].] Further usage is unknown...]

[RacingeR]

Jill Dumont
8:08
Library, 1F, West Wing

“Oh yeah, lots of weird shit happening in town. Trust me, I’ve investigated some of that stuff. It always goes nowhere with no rational explanation to it. I still think abandoned mansion ranks rather high in the “places to not send kids into” list.” Jill grumbled as she followed the teach.

The library was absolutely trashed. Jill liked reading books, was never much of a book nerd, but she enjoyed the occasional read and had a lot of respect for books, so seeing those books broken like that filled her with a silent rage. Although she had to wonder if it had been the workers the one that had left the library like that. Well, no matter…

“Yeah, whoever did this is an asshole.” She said lightly as she moved on into the room.

She examined some of the book titles, trying to get an idea of the book taste of the house’s inhabitants. Then, she examined the map, memorizing it, whatever it happened to be, and proceeded to go read the open book, clearing away the papers over it, only sparing a glance to see what she was cleaning up before throwing it away.

[Mormarth]

Kat + Jacob
8:08
Game Room, 1F, East Wing

The enemy dispatched and the room now silent, a silent tension that had hung over the knick-knacks and various bits and bobs eased.

The room was clear.

You waited a beat, silently waiting for any sort of interference to come crashing into the game room.

None did.

So, that being said, did you have any further business in this room filled with perserved bodies of the slain?

Or did you want to move on to somewhere else?

Tak Johnson
8:09
Study, 1F

Leon blinked suddenly, and then smiled crookedly, "Well whatever, not everyday you get to meet the top brass."

He shook the offered paw gravely, then eyed Tak.

"Should check some of this stuff out, man. It's freaky."

He offered the journal, and you took it easily enough, not too terribly interested in some egghead's day to day.

You skim through some basic jargon, you get most of it, and your eyes flick through scribbles and sketches disinterestedly.

Finally, something important catches your eye:

2/5/83

Have returned to Site Gamma, while not having the supplies of Beta or the proper conditions of Alpha, it has a fair amount of both for our purposes here. Aetheric studies ongoing, progress adequate, but have received nudges from interested parties to speed up timetable. Have responded with caution, subject is docile for the moment, but can easily be roused by resonance. Properly roused subject would be... sub-optimal, to say the least.

12/9/85

Word has come in from Alpha, have received word to open Layer Primus to public once more, timetable must have been pushed up immensely, displeased. But excited, perhaps harvesting will be underway soon.

You flip through the following pages, perturbed at some of the wording of the journal, but they've been torn out, other pages blank or covered with indecipherable scribbling.

You flip to the front, looking for some sort of name, and find a Kepler, C, noted as the owner of the journal.

What exactly was UniCorp doing here?

Lee whines softly, eyes wary.

"I'm with him," Leon says, casting his eyes to the shadows, "Got a bad feeling about this."

Jill Dumont
8:10
Library, 1F, West Wing

You run your finger along some of the tall shelves, finding trying to get an idea from the volumes some insight into the house's denizens.

Some history books, a couple of worn-looking westerns, a whole line of books too worn to glean their identity from the spines and, strangely enough, a couple of volumes on using pet hair for knitting.

Weird.

Arriving at the table that had so obviously drawn your eye, you cast an evaluatory eye over the map, scanning its crude lay-out with a photographical gaze, then shifted the papers that seemed to hold mostly business calculations and expenses. Probably the supervisors trying to milk their contractor for all they were worth.

Then, you laid your hands firmly upon the centerpiece, the book that had so drawn your eye towards it.

There is a great and awful terror within this house, I cannot see it, but I know it is there, lurking at the threshold. I feel its curdling, stinking presence in my dreams, its countless lampreyesque mouths grasping and squeezing the life from my God-given breast. It is a blasphemous thing, I find that the presence of the Christ upon my door has soothed my night terrors many a time, perhaps Faith is a possible bane to the foul beast. But my time is growing short I feel, for it has gone from my presence, the servants claim they have no grudge against my person, but I can almost see the multitude of aethereal appendages tight round their skulls. They are as puppets for the insidious foulness in the depths.

I wish only in my heart to strike out at its filth and scour it from my lands, cleanse it all with fire and steel, my will is strong, but my body grows weaker with each passing day, a sickness I am told. What a fool I was, to claim this land and name it with a lie, hope breeds only contempt, and the devils laugh as they breed their insipid lies and treachery. I am old, fattened by luxury and decadence, blinded so long by faith in my arm and pride in my chest. But I see now the fullness of my failing.

Hear now, reader of the last, and perhaps you can cast out the ravening shadows and the looming darkness that casts them. A thousand screaming agonies echoing in the night. Heed my words carefully, and trust none of those around you.

-Nigel Hawthorne.

"Guy went nuts."

The deep voice of your teacher from over your shoulder makes you jerk, he eyes you.

"Killed all his servants, then died of a heart attack."

He shrugged, "Least he knew how to spin a good yarn for a crazy guy."

[Bloble]

Jacob Hopeman
8:08
Game Room, 1F, East Wing

"Alive and dead, huh?"

The giddiness was starting to fade a bit, but the underlying promise of excitement was enough to keep Jacob in a good mood.

"So I'm thinking," he said. "I'm gonna fill up this bag with junk."

Now that the immediate danger was over, he began to look outside of the present, and into the future. Spooky things were spooky, yes, but the true taboos were in human feelings.

He held a hand to his chest, embedding the rapier point-down into the dirty floor while gesturing like some foppish British Lord. "Then I'm gonna march into the entrance hall, throw it into Mr. Remington's face. I mean, this place is dangerous. We could get hurt," he stressed the words. "I'd say that's a detention worth skipping, no?"

Then he glanced into the direction of the greenhouse. His fingers twitched.

"Think I might grab a smoke break first, though." He strutted towards it. There should be an open window somewhere...

[RacingeR]

Jill Dumont
8:10
Library, 1F, West Wing

“Hmm…” Jill neatly folded the map a few times, before putting it in one of her coat’s pockets. Then, she grabbed the book, a smile on her face. A Clue. This was a Clue. She couldn’t help it, once she laid her eyes on something like this, she got as excited as a kid in a candy store.

She looked up to the teacher, smile still in her mouth. “Oh yes, dude’s totes nuts, not a believer of all that supernatural crap here. But y’know, this still can give a clue of what happened here, right? I mean, the pattern of bad shit happening to the people here keeps repeating. Maybe they all go insane at some point. Maybe someone makes them go insane. There are ways to do that. Who knows? But this book warrants closer examination. If something was going on with this mansion, then the ramblings of an insane man may actually hold an important clue.”

She grabbed the book, and stored it in another one of her pockets. “So I’m taking this one with me. Might take it to the police even. If I know these guys, they didn’t even bother looking up in the journals of the old owners or stuff like that. Damn, why wasn’t I born earlier? I bet I could’ve solved this case in a snap if I was there back then!” Jill complained out loud.

Then she stared at her teacher, who she had thrown all that rant towards with all the air of an experienced police officer. She smiled sheepishly, trying to go back to the normal silly Jill, but didn’t quite manage to do it.

“Perhaps, uhm, we should go back to the foyer and do a roll call? Can’t be the only one who feels something really off about this place.”

[Katie]

Gwendolyn Bright
8:07
Dining Room, 1F, East Wing

“We gotta run.”

It’s just a statement on her part, but she’ll take the ghost’s advice (how absurd this sounds) and split. It’s just, what are her options? There’s the way back, which is most undoubtedly death, that creepy den thing that is almost certainly a death trap, and a… a kitchen.

Well, maybe there would be a knife or something. Better that than nothing, she supposed.

“C’mon Sarah, we’re going that way,” she points to the kitchen, strangely calmly. They’re totally screwed though, which is a word she did not think she would be using today. Darn.