NIGHT 025

[allthekeys]

|| THREAT DOWN

|| NIGHT 025: GENERAL The night is cloudy and cold, with light snow falling in fits and flakes, frost forming across windows. The Guards that man the front gate have a coating of frost across their armor, which only seems to register to them as a minor irritation. || CASTLE All is quiet as night settles in the basement… For most. Some of the castle’s servants will instead of silence be greeted by a burst of static, which will rapidly replace their voice as it is stolen by corrupted Echoes who have found their way from behind the grate. These invisible, incorporeal creatures will wander the halls and dorms, stealing the voice of the first person they encounter and using it to lure others into danger. If they make it onto higher levels, they will possess their victims instead. In the Exotic Zoo’s Holding Room, the door to the Basilisk’s cage is open. The snake itself is nowhere to be seen—at least not where it should be. It slinks through the halls of the castle and will attempt to remain concealed in whatever hiding spots it can find. Nowhere, it seems, is off limits. Anyone unlucky enough to meet its gaze will collapse find themselves petrified in a rapidly forming, stony calcified hull. Although near-instantaneously immobilizing, it will continue to painfully harden over the course of several hours, during which the stricken will remain fully conscious. In the event that its petrifying stare fails, the creature will resort to attacking directly. Its fangs alone are large enough to cause significant damage—and furthermore, its bite is highly venomous and can kill in a matter of minutes. A sign has been posted on the chore board in the Common Room. Help needed to recapture the escaped creature. Wages offered in exchange. Volunteers: report to the barracks for direction. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, LOOK INTO ITS EYES. || THE TOWN Throughout the outer grounds and the Town, the Wraiths roam in small packs, causing the townsfolk to have mostly holed up for the duration of the night. Anyone who goes outside alone will find themselves hunted. || GARDEN AND YARD In the Garden, the snow has been cleared off the paths mysteriously, while small lights dance between trees, sometimes following the paths, sometimes darting off into the undergrowth. Following one may lead to a clearing or secluded glen - or may simply run in circles until it’s difficult to tell which way one came in from. Also lining some of the paths are small glittering flowers that peek out of the snow. These form a more reliable guide to the glade of the Golden Sapling, which is well lit with more of the glittering lights that flash different colors and dance around the clearing. Living green growths form chairs and tables of shoots and leaves, while the area is filled with the songs of small birds and insects. Some of the tables are filled with fresh fruits and vegetables, both familiar and unfamiliar. The fruit is sweet and flavorful, while the feast is more than enough to keep anyone fed comfortably throughout the night, although those who eat will find odd effects beginning to impact them not long after, listed below.. Details of some of the effects caused by the fruit are player option within the boundaries described and last until dawn; it’s possible to gain more than one transformation if the fruit is revisited more than once through the night. The Wraiths do not enter the garden. ((OOC: Characters who are petrified by the basilisk face three possible options for outcome, determined either by player choice or dice roll: 1. If left undisturbed, they will return to normal at daybreak. 2. If a guard discovers the victim in the time before they are fully petrified, they can shatter the outer shell, releasing them (albeit with lasting injuries). 3. Alternatively, after 6-8 hours IC, the Grim may show up to take them. In this case, they will be killed and revive as is standard. FEAST EFFECT ROLL 1-10: Some of the glowing wisps seem drawn to you, staying in orbit for the rest of the night; monsters are hesitant to approach, and anyone staying within around ten feet shares in your protection. You feel refreshed and calmed, with any injuries healed and a chance to clear other lingering ill effects. The lights push back the chill of the night with a comforting warmth, allowing you freedom from any ill effects of the cold. 11-40: Not long after eating, there are a few minutes of a sort of drugged euphoric haze; after it passes, you find yourself with a handful of odd physical transformations that are functional, if unusual. 41-60: No noticeable other effect. 61-89: Also a transformation effect, although you will be more conscious for it, and the changes are more animalistic or potentially awkward and drastic; you find yourself more likely to act on impulses, although the monsters do not seem to notice you unless you approach close to them. The guards will block entry to the Castle. 90-100: You find yourself aware of other living things and monsters. Townsfolk, other servants, and more “still human or reasonable equivalent” NPC’s are only noticeable as slightly staticy presences. Many of the monsters are more clear, masses of emotion that are stronger the closer they are; the wraiths broadcast intense isolation and desperate loneliness, a chill of endless solitude. The Echoes are masses of noise, hundreds of voices overlapping with clashing panic, anger, and paranoia. The Guards are less loud, somewhere in between a suffocating trapped sense and the static that makes up other living beings. The monsters ignore you unless you directly attempt to interact with them, at which point they behave as normal; the guards will bar entry to the castle and may drive you out of the town.))