Day 042

[allthekeys]

|| Day 042: GENERAL At the first break of daylight, gravity realigns itself. All items hanging frozen in the air fall straight down - some things break, some things don't, but for a moment the noise is deafening. Lyhn is suspiciously absent from the house, as is Lock, though the Catacombs are very brightly lit, with motes of light still floating in the air in the twisting halls. A few splatters of blood dot the passageway, but some care seems to have been taken to cover the trail. Sam, Jamie, Molly and Kuja continue to glow, even as daybreak makes the effect less striking. Coming into the Catacombs feels right to each of them, though there seems to be nothing to see. The house feels strangely still, as though some momentum the houseguests have naturally adjusted for has ceased. There is nothing to indicate what this might be, or what the results to this cessation might be. Anyone near the Ballroom at the state of day will see a rather odd looking man appear, dressed entirely in white. A striking cane hangs over one arm, though he clearly does not need it. He whistles to himself as he surveys the damage done to the room and walks a slow circuit around it, studying Estella’s corpse. “What a wanton waste of wondrous wealth.” The words seem to be muttered only to himself. The theatrical gesture he makes towards her corpse has a very real effect, as she crumbles to nothing, the ashes lifting to his fingertips. From elsewhere in the house, another dust cloud rushes to join him, both compacting down to form two glittering crystals. He hums to himself, smiling again, and vanishes from the room. Rose finally glances up from her near catatonic state when the mysterious man disappears, as if his disposal of the corpse has snapped her out of her stupor. Slowly she rises to her feet, stumbling on shaky legs, and starts to walk away. She wanders the entire first house today, ignoring all of her burns and injuries. In the Maid Hallway the mould continues to creep up the stairs, fuzzy fingers of it slowly starting to wrap around the light fixtures, leaving greenish streaks on the walls. The Smoke Room door is still stuck open, and the yellowish tinge to thing seems to have become an almost permanent fixture. The muddy mess in the Yellow Bedroom has been joined by the muddy form of a little boy, dirty red hair clinging to his forehead as he sleeps, hands curled near his mouth. Beneath the mud he is pale, and also familiar. The corpse from the Pool lies prone on the floor. After a moment, she begins to stir, gasping hard for breath. Her entire body convulses before she rolls onto her knees and vomits out lungfuls of water. She pants hard as she tries to recover, before slowly looking up and around her. She is clearly disoriented, but responsive. The pit in the Theatre seems to have grown wider over the course of the night. There is a dim light shining from somewhere inside. In the Photographer’s Bedroom the Photographer’s Ghost has vanished. Rei sits alone on the bed, still faintly luminescent herself, she does not move and is nearly statuesque in her stillness. The Card Game continues in the Mask Bedroom Though the players have changed somewhat as the day has come upon them. The Masked Figure has a spill of blonde hair falling from beneath his cloak, and the Shadow Man himself seems distinctly more solid than he normally is. Whatever dark substance has grabbed hold of the Blank Library and the Hallway outside is slowly sinking into the floor and walls, leaving behind sticky discolouration and a sense of unease. It's unpleasant to touch but does not stain the skin. The vines creeping form the Viewing Bedroom lay on the floor, though the door is still wedged mostly closed, preventing anyone from entering. They have the capricious habit of leaping from the ground when stepped upon, wrapping tightly around the owner of the foot. The Priest pauses in the Chapel; for a moment, the torch flickers out as a shudder runs through the ghost, it and his sword falling from his hands as he drops to hands and knees. When he rises again, he’s regained a normal complexion, and seems dazed; it passes quickly. While he leaves the torch settled near the altar, his sword is sheathed at his side, as he sets out to regain bearings. He can be found wandering the Houses, although he cannot enter his own room for the duration of the Day. Ruth is going through the papers on the desk in the Priest’s Study, a basket sitting on the floor next to her feet. She works quickly, muttering to herself as she goes through the papers, one eye always on the door. She seems tense, but there is no rush in the way she studies the papers. Early on in the morning, Dave seems somewhat distracted, almost mournful. Though the mood seems to fade quickly and leave him searching for things to do. In short order he begins to clean the bar, even going so far as to pull tables away from the walls to dust behind him. The Silenced Woman sits quietly on the floor in the opium den, a strange look on her face as she works, rubbing stains from a length of cloth. She is obviously looking for something and does not intend to leave until she has found it. The Lake is steaming. Some small, dead fish are floating on its surface.