player plot: chateau d'onterre

[doneisdone]

WHO: Teren, Abby, Clarisse, Julius, Mobius, Redvers, Viktor
WHAT: The Gang Gets Stuck in a Haunted House
WHEN: ~Harvestmere
WHERE: the Emerald Graves
NOTES: Please track the post and keep to one thread, which I will re-up with a new starter periodically!

It's a dark and stormy night.



The party was on their way from the eluvian to a rift at Argon's Lodge, but, having been caught up in an especially nasty squall, has been forced to seek shelter somewhere nearer than either. Lightning flashes, too close for comfort; it illuminates a flash of metal through the overgrown trees, perhaps a sign of civilization. They draw nearer, and are able to identify a large and elaborate gate, hanging slightly ajar. Inviting.

Thunder cracks furiously, and with little choice but to duck within or to remain out in the downpour, the party chooses the former. A short stone walkway leads up to an enormous building, impossibly concealed by the forest and even now partially obscured by mist and rain. Redvers tries the door, a construct tall and grand: it groans open.

The entryway is pitch black as they pile in, the occasional flashes of lightning enough to suggest the accoutrements of a personal dwelling, albeit a large and wealthy one. Julius, the last one inside, has barely drawn his dripping overclothes through the doorway when it slams shut of its own volition, and cannot be opened again.

Down the hall, about ten paces away, a sconce flickers to life.

Comments

[favoriteanalyst]

"...Something might have already found us," Mobius says quietly. Even without all the noise, lights and sounds and talking and moving about must already attract something.

They really should leave. Teren can't even get the damned windows open? Is everything locked into place? They'll simply have to chuck something through the glass, then. One of those portraits. A heavy tome.

Sure. He can go get one. Up the stairs and toward the flicker of movement. Did nobody else see that? Maybe not with all the fuss. No, it's fine, he decides when he moves. It's fine because everyone's still together and there's at least some light, and he keeps a hand casually on the hilt of his blade as he moves toward the stairs. Up them. Toward the books atop the staircase, yes, and also more importantly to the what feels like unnaturally deep shadows beyond that the fire's light doesn't reach.

Don't worry about it. They can handle a creature. Surely.

[grindset]

Spurred mostly by Abby's swift rebuke, Viktor has since disabled the device, and now holds it close to his chest as though in mutual protection, flicking glimpses of self-conscious eye contact to anyone who happens to look at him. This is now his emotional support arcane energy detector. Also: whoops.

His gaze presently snags on Mobius taking the stairs, follows him as he ascends.

His credibility may have been scuffed just now—even if only self-imposed, he feels it regardless—but he's taken worse hits for more embarrassing reasons, and this is hardly enough to knock him out of his role. So, with his eyes still raised, a slight turn of his head toward Julius, he says, "By all means, try."

[laruetheday]

Clarisse follows Teren to the window, assuming that if anyone can get it open, it's her. She grips the sash with both hands and tries to push it up, but nothing happens. She puts more muscle into it, straining until her face flushes and she has to stop and catch her breath, but it's not budging.

Normally that would be embarrassing, but even Clarisse is getting too freaked out by all of this to care much about being embarrassed. Whatever is keeping the window closed, it's stronger than she is, and she doesn't like that.

"Shit," she mutters under her breath. She turns to watch Mobius head up the stairs, torn between going with him and trying the window again.

[doneisdone]

"Fuck," Teren snaps simultaneously with Clarisse, and, reversing a dagger in her hand, smashes the pommel of it against the windowpane. If someone were standing at her shoulder, the ricochet off the glass would have driven the dagger right into their face: fortunately this isn't the case, but Teren looks properly humbled by the attempt, jerking her head toward Clarisse to meet her eyes. what the fuck

Mobius' adventure continues upstairs.

[overharrowed]

Splitting up feels like a supremely bad idea, but before he can turn to follow Mobius, he at least has to give it a go. He levels his staff (not concerned with Clarisse and Teren's proximity since the spell won't affect them negatively no matter where it lands), and the end glows green as he tries a simple Dispel Magic on the window. He's not sure it will do anything, but he can't think of a way that trying the spell will hurt anything. And if they can get out, they should.

[armd]

The door is barred and held shut; the window is impossible to open. Abby watches Clarisse struggle with it and feels something in her stomach sink, cold and awful. To watch her give up on it a moment later is pretty damning: that window's not gonna open. There's probably no point to wasting any more time in this room.

Mobius has disappeared up the stairs. Abby's poised halfway between the stairs and the window, still holding the sconce and candlestick aloft — there's something tugging at her, some bad feeling that says they shouldn't be splitting up.

When she opens her mouth all she says is, "I hate this." The magic Julius casts washes over the window and, to be sure, she takes another step back, gaze automatically going to Clarisse.

[doneisdone]

Julius' spell shimmers against the window, and energy crackles in a manner that suggests he's hit on something: however, whatever magic holds the manor in place is far too powerful to be dispelled by one single mage.

[laruetheday]

Clarisse exhales through her mouth in a frustrated huff as the spell doesn't appear to do any damage. At any rate, the window is still shut. She looks around, meets Teren's gaze with a shrug and then looks back at Abby for a moment before averting her gaze.

This sucks.

"Guess we're going upstairs." She is, at least, following Mobius up, though it seems more due to frustration than curiosity on her part.