CLOSED | if i cut off your arms and cut off your legs,

[murderbaby]

WHO: Mhavos, Barrow, Sawbones, Ellis, Vanadi, Edgard, Athessa, Leander, Dick, & Holden.
WHAT: Slasher Plot / Murderhaus / I should really have come up with a set name for this thing.
WHEN: Late Harvestmere / Early Kingsway.
WHERE: Ostwick.
NOTES: This plot is based on the idea of slasher movies, so there will be blood, violence, torture, cannibalism & NPC death.

YOU MAY REMEMBER going to Ostwick on a Riftwatch mission, closing a rift on the property of the noble Pickney house, and being accosted by the Lady Elsed Pickney. Her (adult) son is missing! Terrible things are afoot!

But that's easy to ignore; Gawen Pickney rather publicly announced his intention to elope with a Dalish elf a few weeks ago. Assurances are made, yes, we'll let you know if we see him, and what can you do but that?

It's time to move on. Traveling back to Kirkwall, a storm breaks out, and everyone decides it's better to find a place to stay for the night than push forward. The Silver Lamp is a cozy Inn on the roadside, and the proprietor, an elderly man named Medrod, is very kind. It's not tourism season in these parts, so he's happy to give everyone a discount for the night, and the meal is on the house. Everyone eats well, has a pleasant enough time, and wanders off to bed for the night.

(The food your characters ate was not people and did not taste strange in any way.)

And then Medrod will let the sleeping gas seep through the Inn, laced with Magebane just in case, and everyone will wake up a few hours later, dizzy and, in many cases, in pain.

(Look for a toplevel with your character's name below.)

HOW WILL THIS WORK? Well, I'll be NPCing Medrod the Murderer. Medrod will be showing up in each thread eventually, after a number of tags I RNG'd. It's entirely possible to escape before he shows up! And don't worry, if you guys get in a rut, I'll make him show up early to spice things up ;)

I'll also be doing dicerolls!

If you have a situation where you feel your character will need to roll (I'm going to let you decide this!) put ROLL in the subject line, and bold what you need me to roll for.

(For example, you can have a whole tag like normal, and then Bob tries to pick the lock. Then I'll roll for success or failure, as well as other factors, and reply to that thread with the results. But if you don't want to rely on dicerolls, for whatever reason, don't worry about it. The dicerolls are an opt-in feature. Use it as much or as little as you want.)

I'll also be rolling for discovery, which will work the same way: if your character is looking for something, put ROLL in the subject line and bold what they're looking for (normal tag normal tag then Alice looked for a lockpick) and I'll reply with results after rolling. But if you just want your character to find the thing without dicerolls, go for it.

IN SHORT, I'm only making this as hard as you want it to be. Your characters are already waking up to torture. If you want them to find the special key and escape in two comments, it's totally fine. (Just respect other people's difficulty levels, if they want to give their characters a harder time.)

The only thing that has to rely on rolls is killing, apprehending or injuring the Murderer, but since I'll be NPCing him, those rolls are automatic and will be baked into his reply comments.

IF YOUR CHARACTERS GET FREE, let me know what they'd want to do next oocly (options below), and I'll set that up for you!

Other potential goals to keep in mind besides escaping:

- Finding / saving others.
- Killing / apprehending Medrod the Murderer.
- Getting evidence of Gawen & his Dalish wife's murder to eventually send to Lady Elsed.
- Getting your stuff back (all obviously visible weapons / staves have been taken away).

You got questions? Lemme know!

DETAILS:

- While in the torture room, your character is free to hear (or not hear) distant screaming. It's muffled enough that you can't identify the source (it's Edgard). The screaming has stopped.

- The hallways between the rooms are pitch-dark, and even those who can see in the dark will find it difficult to navigate, as the walls and ceilings are mirrored, distorting the size, shape, and direction of the hallways.

Comments

[heorte]

"We need to get after him," is the first thing Ellis says, regaining his balance after Medrod blew past him. He'd come up cursing under his breath, quietly furious that he hadn't knocked the man flat.

There's blood soaking Vanadi's sleeve. But there's no reason to stay here and wait for a second visit.

"Can you use that arm?" Ellis asks briskly, walking towards the door with the club propped against his shoulder.

[highborn]

Vanadi interprets that nod as a go block the door, which he does -- but not quite quick enough. The killer goes scrambling past him as Vanadi's gored arm fails to meet the challenge of snatching him.

"Yes," he says quickly, whether or not it's true, and he's already striding for the door. He pauses only to admit to himself that maybe, maybe, it would be smart to plan this and not rush off thirsty for blood.

"Wait — alright, the others. They'll be captured as well, right? We're a poor pair to be the only gains." No offense. "Split up?"

[heorte]

"We'd be at a disadvantage moving alone in this place."

And Ellis can't see easily in the dark. This certainly wouldn't be his first time facing an enemy in less than ideal conditions, but Medrod is not darkspawn. Ellis has no warning in his blood to alert him to the impending threat of a wily old murderer with a very sharp knife.

"I'd rather be sure he hasn't ducked into another chamber to use that knife on someone who hasn't gotten out of their chains," Ellis continues. "Did you see which way he went?"

By way of some compromise. If they move in that direction and come across someone else to free, they might as well make use of the coincidence.

[highborn]

He hates the thought of leaving less ground covered and, potentially, more people waiting for help, but ... well, this human had failed to knock out an old man with the cover of Vanadi's perfectly set up illusion. Maybe it's best not to leave him alone.

"Left," he says by way of agreeing to this plan, and steps into the hallway after a brief check each direction. No movements in the shadows. He shifts his grip on the knife and starts forward with a quiet, "After me."

ROLL

[heorte]

"You're bleeding," Ellis points out, though he does fall into place a few paces behind Vanadi. Yes, they could argue over which of them leads, but the waste of time isn't worth it.

Though still, Ellis holds a breath, listening for any sound of footsteps or creaking hinges to give them some idea of where the man might have run to.

ROLL: NARROW FAILURE.

[murderbaby]

OUTCOME: It's hard to see in the dark, and the halls are uneven; it's hardly a surprise when a man without any night vision walks right into a mirrored wall.

No one is injured, somehow.

ROLL

[highborn]

Oh, hey, is that a mirror maze? Sorry Ellis, Vanadi is too busy pausing and staring bewilderedly at this to stop you. Thonk.

That's when he finally moves, springing forward to set a hand on Ellis's arm.

"Careful." Redundant. That's to make up for the hold still while I unlock this. "Mirrors." He starts forward again, the wounded arm held out before him as a buffer for bumping into anything else. He looks for any flicker of movement, or sound of footstep.

ROLL: NARROW SUCCESS.

[murderbaby]

OUTCOME: Night vision or no, the mirrors are extensive, warped and difficult. Vanadi almost walks into one, because that's just how life goes.

They are not alone in the hall, there are sounds of people walking toward them. People. Plural.

[muckspout]

Edgard rounds a corner with both arms up high, one arm holding a torch and the other holding an axe. Sawbones is just behind him. There are people up ahead.

Edgard bellows curses in response and only just stops himself from flinging the axe at them. Thank the maker for torchlight revealing it not to be the creepy man who stood above him before.

"Who's there?" He calls.

[okayimin]

Sawbones is more startled by the bellowing than the appearance of figures in the dark, jumping back. Stone, this is not a quiet surfacer.

[highborn]

That — doesn't sound like the innkeeper. In fact, sounds a bit like Edgard. He recovers from his pretty embarrassing near-miss of a mirror and, hissing only just loud enough to be heard, "Vanadi and Ellis. Edgard?"

And ... someone else. Sawbones. No one else is that short. Well, that's two he can worry slightly less about.

[heorte]

"It's Edgard," Ellis confirms to Vanadi, before continuing, "Letting anyone nearby know where he is."

And by extension, where they are. There are too many unknowns for Ellis to be generous about any part of Edgard's reaction.

"Are you alright?" is directed mostly to Sawbones, really, but is at least general enough to encompass the pair of them.

[muckspout]

Edgard hears the comment and grimaces. He feels familiar shame at Ellis' disapproval, but how is was he supposed to not yell after that Innkeeper surprise knifed Sawbones.

"You're welcome for not axing you." He says pointedly. "The Innkeeper stabbed her in the dark. We cauterized her wound and decided to come find him to kill him. I already got him once in the face." It seems important that they know that.

"Are you two alright?"

[okayimin]

She nods, both to Ellis' question and as agreement with Edgard's story.

"Well enough," she says, stepping past Edgard and pointing at Vanadi's injury, "Let me see." It's not really a request, she starts bandaging him up as soon as he gets in range.

[highborn]

He relaxes only the very slightest bit when what is ostensibly 'friends' come into view — and gives himself up without struggle to Sawbones's efforts. Probably better to staunch that blood, yeah, he'd been ignoring it and also ignoring the slight lightheadedness.

"We're fine," he says quickly, reasonably sure it's true, "But we lost sight of him in here. Have you found any of the others?"

[heorte]

Edgard's story goes largely unacknowledged. The only aspect of note is that they'd come across that man in the dark, presumably somewhere back in the hallway they'd emerged from.

"If they came from that direction, we'd be better off backtracking," Ellis says, watching Sawbones working briskly at Vanadi's injured shoulder. "We haven't had any sign of others, ours or his, not until he caught Vanadi at the door."

There a pause before Ellis points out:

"We still don't know if he's working alone or not."

[muckspout]

Edgard nods at Ellis. This plan makes sense to him.

"Haven't seen anyone else either. Just the two of us. Should find the others first, but if we see him..." He waves the axe threateningly. He motions ahead in the direction Ellis indicated with his torch. "Shall we?"

[okayimin]

"Ought to keep an eye out for any lanterns as we go," Sawbones pipes up, satisfied with the binding on Vanadi's injury and gesturing at Ellis to lean down so she can check him before they set off. "Torch won't last forever and the 'spawn got advantage in the dark."

[highborn]

With four of them now, and Vanadi having no real confidence in their (Edgard's) ability to move quietly, he's only too happy to surrender front position. His magic wasn't made for frontlines.

He's about to pick a direction and start them off, but -- pausing to glance at Sawbones questioningly, "Spawn?"

[heorte]

"Darkspawn," Ellis answers him, without further explanation as he catches Sawbones' hand to focus her attention. He isn't injured, apart from perhaps a few bruises from the chains. Rather than assert that, he continues, "But they aren't here."

Which is maybe for everyone's benefit, but Ellis is saying it for her. They're at a disadvantage here in a lot of ways, but not nearly as bad as if darkspawn were liable to burst from the walls.

ROLL

[muckspout]

Edgard pauses as Ellis reassures Sawbones. Oh. He had been so focused on the issues at hand, he didn't realize where her head was. He purses his lips together, nodding grimly.

He chooses a direction and shines his torch around the corner, looking and listening to see if anything is ahead.

ROLL: NARROW FAILURE.

[murderbaby]

OUTCOME: No one seems to be in the hallway, but as Edgard steps out, he hears a click, and is just quick enough to step back before a trap can engulf is shoe in a saw-like apparatus.

Some of his toes feel the breeze, but he's otherwise unharmed.

[okayimin]

If there was anyone who could convince Sawbones there isn't darkspawn, it is actually Ellis. She takes a breath to respond, but then in the next moment there's the chunk of the trap.

"Sand and shale," she yelps, jumping, turning to check on Edgard, "Suppose at least 'spawn don't fuck around with this shit."

roll for traps

[sulahnan]

Somewhere further down the hall, in the darkness, glass shatters and two pinpricks of light appear, flickering with the movement of the torch in Edgard's hand.

From the opposite perspective, Athessa sees their companions (The Blue Barracudas) and utters a hushed word of haste to the others on team Silver Snakes.

"You're alive," she breathes a sigh of relief once they're close enough to be visible to those without dark vision, and steps closer. Except--

"Mhavos and Leander aren't with you?"

ROLL: MAJOR SUCCESS.

[murderbaby]

OUTCOME: There is a trap, but Athessa is too light to activate it, being weighted for humans as it is. An axe wiggles in the air, dislodged but not willing to fall, while the place to step, a tiny square of metal previously covered by packed dirt, is easy to see by torchlight.

Don't step on the square.