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

REVENGE.

[murderbaby]

What has been done here must be answered in kind.

[muckspout]

Edgard still holding the torch in one hand, twirls the axe around in the other. He turns to the others,

"He tried to chop off my head with this axe. Think I'll return the favor. Which way do you think?"

[sulahnan]

Athessa stands close to Vanadi, keeping a white-knuckle grip on the chain she's been using to smash mirrors. At this point it's become her emotional support flail.

"We smashed the mirrors on our way here, so we can probably leave off backtracking for now."

And provided they proceed quietly enough, they should be able to hear anyone walking over the glass they've left behind.

[highborn]

Vanadi, one dagger in hand, decides the second he'd tucked away under his belt is probably better off in Athessa's keeping. He digs it out to hand it over silently (it's rusted, it's nasty, but it will punch through a throat just fine), eyes on the area around them.

"This way, then," he decides with a forward step, based on nothing more than the fact that it won't be backtracking to the mirror-smashers, and they've got to pick something. He nods to Edgard. "Would you like the honors of leading the way?"

ROLL

[muckspout]

Edgard steps to the front, eyes menacing, ready to use that axe as soon as possible.

"As a matter of fact, I would. Thank you."

He steps forward, shining the torch, trying to avoid crunching the broken glass. He looks and listens ahead for any sign of their quarry.

ROLL: MAJOR SUCCESS.

[murderbaby]

OUTCOME: Edgard manages to avoid walking on any traps, and in the torchlight... doesn't see much, honestly.

But he hears something, the echoing voice of an elderly man not far off. The words, 'them,' 'abomination,' and, 'pretty,' may be heard.

[muckspout]

Edgard stops and shushes the other two who are not being loud in any way.

"I hear him! I think he's ahead."

He starts forward, waving his axe occasionally for safety.

[sulahnan]

The death glare shot at Edgard's back sufficiently covers the wince of pain at having to take the knife from Vanadi with her right hand, but it's better to be in pain and have a weapon in each hand than to have to choose between a blade or a blunt object.

With Edgard advancing, Athessa slows slightly to whisper in an aside to Vanadi: "If you were the killer, would the sound of glass breaking draw you in, or drive you away?"

[highborn]

Gods, but his confidence in Edgard is dropping by the moment. He keeps half a step behind Athessa, the better to stay on guard for anything from behind, and murmurs, "It would depend on how well I was armed and whether I'd set an ambush. We can't know, just be ready." And then, a little louder for Edgard, "Quickly now, you have support."

Something glimmers darkly in the palm of his off hand as he readies his unpleasant magic. Just in case.

ROLL

[muckspout]

Edgard's chest swells and his determination builds knowing that Vanadi has such confidence in him. He keeps moving forward, keeping the other two behind him in his peripheral. He moves toward the voice he heard toward the end of the hall.

He listens again. He says sotto voce to the others, "I think I heard him say something was pretty." He shudders.

He takes a deep breath and rounds the corner where he sees a dusty lantern hanging. He lights it and it illuminates the hall revealing anything that might be there.

ROLL: 🎉 GREAT SUCCESS. 🎉

[murderbaby]

Thanks...?

OUTCOME: The hall is illuminated, and many of the mirrors are smashed thanks to Athessa. The hallway is a dead end, with an old man hunched over in the corner. He looks frail and small, not the dangerous creature one might thought. He cradles his face, moaning slowly as blood leaks between his fingertips.

Your move.

ROLL

[muckspout]

There is no hesitation. He forgets about the other two. The worries that usually plague him are gone and his mind is completely clear. Edgard sees nothing but blood and is uncharacteristically silent. Eyes wild, Edgard sprints directly at the old man and swings the axe around aiming for his neck.

ROLL: NARROW SUCCESS.

[murderbaby]

OUTCOME: The man looks up just in time to see Edgard coming, and smiles. He stands and holds out his arms, as though welcoming an embrace.

Edgard takes off two fingers before Medrod disappears through a trap door. The sound of clicking emanates through the hall. The Murderer could be anywhere, but at least you have a souvenir.

ROLL

[highborn]

Vanadi dashes forward with a curse under his breath as the old man falls, but of course he's too late. Their target disappears, and Vanadi skids to a stop all harsh angles and grit teeth.

That clicking, though. The trap door, or something else? He'll take a second to scrutinize the hall around them for pending traps or disasters, wary and ready to yank Edgard back.

ROLL: MEDIUM FAILURE.

[murderbaby]

OUTCOME: Vanadi, what do your elf ears hear... something moving through the walls, yeah, but you can't pinpoint the source. This is unfortunate when a the pathways out of this hallway close. Everybody's stuck in one long corridor now. At least its well lit.

The clicking sound continues. Is it counting down?

ROLL

[sulahnan]

Athessa is only a few steps behind Vanadi as he rushes forward, her attention on the trap door rather than the walls around them. She taps on Vanadi's leg to signal him to step back from the door, then drops the chain from her left hand so she can wield the knife with it.

She sticks the blade of the knife between the door and the floor, trying to pry it open.

ROLL: MAJOR SUCCESS.

[murderbaby]

OUTCOME: Athessa manages to wedge the knife in just in time, allowing the party access to the extensive warrens beneath even the basement, dark and cramped.

One might call it hunting ground.

[muckspout]

Edgard since successfully chopping fingers has been standing still staring at his axe now coated with blood.

He is breathing heavily and his hands are shaking. He is so intent on staring at the axe, he hasn't noticed the other two's discovery.

ROLL

[highborn]

Vanadi is happy to dance back out of the way for Athessa, all his hackles raised as the clicking goes on. He snatches for Edgard's arm as Athessa manages the trap door, to drag him down with them.

"You'll have his head next time," he whispers as they go, dropping down through the trap door. There he goes still, listening carefully — either for signs of the killer, or to see what they've just dodged above.

ROLL: NARROW FAILURE.

[murderbaby]

OUTCOME: The space under the packed earth floor is, unsurprisingly, dark, though navigable with elven eyes. Mechanisms line the walls, clicking away, weights and balances and maybe even timers.

One of them is invariably a blade, and it reaches out to swipe at Vanadi's shoulder just before the sound of a human voice can be heard, "don't come any closer."

ROLL

[sulahnan]

Before she can stop herself, she responds to the voice: "Or what. "

She looks around for the human.

ROLL: MEDIUM SUCCESS.

[murderbaby]

OUTCOME: Behind a mechanism, she may see a human-shaped figure. The mechanism in question involves a great deal of knives, some pointing upward, once a trap, the rest quickly being reassembled to face outward, defensive.

"The story ends."

2 MAN ROLL

[highborn]

Vanadi flinches back from the blade slicing at his shoulder, eyes instantly on the figure at its mechanism. That is an awful lot of knives, isn't it? He throws out a hand and narrows his eyes, only half aware of Edgard charging past him at the killer, axe doubtless up and ready for round two. Swirling colors bloom in the air in front of them, dull and easily missed on their side, but distracting and hypnotic to the killer, to hopefully catch him up in a stupor.

ROLL: NARROW SUCCESS.

[murderbaby]

OUTCOME: The colors whirl in Medrod's eyes and he screams, instantly fleeing. "You won't have the other!" His words echo particularly well down hallways reinforced with clicking metal contraptions.

The axe catches him in the shoulder, but he still manages to run away. In the dim light, there's a blood trail to follow.

ROLL

[sulahnan]

Athessa takes off after the killer at a full clip, gritting her teeth against the pain in her shoulder whenever she has to move that arm to outpace and tackle the man before he can disappear again.