Latest revision as of 01:08, 30 January 2023

Participants

Date

29/1/2023

Log

(Fenris) A worried looking human girl stands waiting in the lobby of the Interplanar Studies building, periodically checking her comms for replies to her hasty summons. She periodically looks back over her shoulder down the hall.

(Willy) The first to answer the call is a Fox Taur, who ambles into the lobby. The teal and silver colored fox smiles as he makes it it in. "There was a call out for help?" he asks, looking rather curious.

(Arimia) The sound of a car door shutting can be heard from outside the building, and a few minutes later a similar sound, as a trunk is shut. Shortly after that the door opens to admit a mechanical medusa. Upon fully entering, Arimia coils up and settles onto her scales in a seated position, twin revolvers at her hips, along side her sword. She glances toward the fox taur before focusing on the human, though as yet she does not say anything.

(Booker) Booker pushed open the door to the building. "This the right spot?" he glanced around seeing the human looking girl and the two strangers. "I'

(Booker) Booker fixing.

(Booker) Booker pushed open the door to the building. "This the right spot?" he glanced around seeing the

(Booker) Booker pushed open the door to the building. "This the right spot?" he glanced around seeing the human looking girl and the two strangers. "I'd assume so.." He wandered up, glancing at the three of them. "So what seems to be the problem?" He tilted his head.

(Ysadora) A mild chill settles in the air as a fourth mutant sweeps in through the door, black hair atangle around her face. She looks human at first glance, but appears to be missing a few limbs, hands and feet floating unfixed in the air around her armor as she glides a short distance above the ground. Ysadora sunken eyes flit around until they find the girl and she flushes, approaching. "New agent Ysadora reporting! Did you send out the call, um, ma'am?"

(Fenris) The young woman looks at the arriving agents and nods. "You will do, I guess," she says, "You can call me Cassandra. I am the researcher over extraplanar artifacts here at the Interdimensional Studies building. Please follow me and I will explain what is going on."

She turns and leads the way down the hallway. There are a few offices and conference rooms, but she passes them by, leading the way to what seems to be an indoor storage facility with rows and rows of garage door style storage units. She stops by one labeled 707 and waits for everyone to join her.

"This is the locked containment unit for an extradimensional... board game," she explains, "And I am afraid that I need you to go inside and play it." You can all see that the garage door is raised off the ground about three feet, halfway open.

(Willy) Willy Chuckles softly "Ah, so the board game is at it agian." he says "

(Willy) "Alright. I definitly can plan and get this done." he says and starts to head down the hallway.

(Arimia) Arimia adopts a vaguely amused expression at the woman's initial assessment of the group, for some reason, but offers no complaints as she follows along behind Cassandra. The serpentine woman starts toward the garage door, though she pauses upon reaching it. Looking back at Cassandra she asks, her voice accentless aside from a mechanical twang to it, "Before I go in, should I fetch my tent and the like? Basically, should I prepare for an extended stay in a hostile area?"

(Booker) Booker followed after Cassandra, stopping at the door. "A board game..?" He shrugged. "I mean not like I have anything better to do." He smirked. "I hope its Monopoly..." He leaned down peeking inside the door.

(Ysadora) Ysadora floats along with the group, fiddling with her equipment, which looks to have been put on in a rush. A black wax candle nearly falls from one of her hands before she catches it with another that floats into place below. "Playing a board game sounds...simple enough, I guess? But if this is the Interdimensional Studies building, I'm willing to bed this is no ordinary game like monopoly."

(Fenris) Cassandra nods at Willy. "Yes," she says, "Or more specifically, your idiot tanuki friend has broken in again. I wish I could figure out how he is doing it." She shakes her head. "The game is meant to be played by no fewer than three individuals, so he is stuck until someone shows up and plays. Don't worry, the game will tell you how to play it and provide anything you need. It only takes about two hours or so to play."

She turns and raises the garage door, revealing a small, clean storage unit containing only a little card table and a worn looking game box covered with a faded painting of billowing clouds and the words "A Strange Place" emblazoned on it.

"Good luck," Cassandra says, letting the group enter and closing the door behind them.

(Willy) Willy chuckles a little and sighs "That Tanuki seems to get into everything." he says with a laugh before he starts to sit down in the first seat. "Minor note to people, knowing he's stuck, whoever you choose as Companion Fenris will likely become" he says, before he awaits for the choices to appear.

(Arimia) After making her way over toward the table, Arimia coils up and settles onto her coils, once more, in a seated position. She examines the game box as she idly comments, "Well. Let's see what sort of game we are playing."

(Booker) Booker approached the box, taking a place at one of the sides of the table. "and its not even monopoly." He sat down on the floor, looking down at the box. He glanced at the others in the room. "So.. we all ready?"

(Ysadora) Ysadora sits down in the final spot, chains clinking slightly as they make contact with the surface below. "Companion? Have you played this game before, then?" She leans down to study the faded box, careful not to drip any water on it. "Oh, but I'm ready, I suppose."

(Fenris) As soon as the box is touched, blue smoke billows out, filling the room and hiding the door and walls, though the table and the four players remain visible. Then thin tendrils of smoke start to write in the air before each person.

Willy reads, "Name a Genre."

Arimia reads, "Name a Setting."

Booker reads, "State an Adjective."

Ysadora reads, "Choose a Companion."

(Willy) Willy thinks about it for a moment, and is about to say something but stops. "Ummm....Adventure?" he says, thinking that was meant to be named.

(Arimia) Staring at the smoke, Arimia tilts her head slightly to one side. She glances over at Willy before she says, "Dracula Castle, Romania."

(Booker) Booker stared at the smoke for a minute. "Well thats new... uh.." He thought for a moment. "Eldrich." He looked at the others, wondering if they could see the smoke-crafted words infront of him. "We're off to a strange start..." He gave a half-hearted chuckle.

(Ysadora) Ysadora ponders for a long moment. "Well, since Booker mentioned monopoly earlier, how about a dog for the companion? But we can make it a Frankenstein Dog, to match the setting. Like, all stitched together."

(Fenris) The thin smoke writing vanishes and new writing appears to everyone.

"State Something True about this new world."

Meanwhile, red smoke forms in the air... "Eldritch Adventure in Dracula Castle."

Each player is also prompted to make a character with one thing they are good at and one thing they are bad at.

(Willy) Willy Turns his head a little at this. "Signs of battle are seen within the castle, from what is not known." he says before looking at the new prompt "Detective, good at Investigation, bad at alertness."

(Arimia) Arimia narrows her eyes at the new writing in the smoke. After a few moments of contemplation says, "It is the middle of winter." Then she settles back slightly, a small frown and says, "Ascetic monk with an unshakable will, but bad at interpersonal skills."

(Booker) Booker placed his elbows on the table. "Uh... The castle has hidden rooms." He paused. "Laborer, Strong, but dumb as a rock." He chuckled watching Ysadora for her answer.

(Ysadora) Ysadora squints as she thinks. "Uh, it's true that this castle has a forbidden underground laboratory, that should be fun. And my character is a pianist who is good at fine manipulation with her dexterous fingers but bad at taking a hit." She chuckles. "That's kind of the opposite of me, lately."

(Fenris) The smoke swirls, and everyone is momentarily blinded by the blinding fog.

When the smoke clears, the group finds themselves in a huge, sumptuously decorated dining hall. A fire roars in the huge, stone fireplace and snow falls gently outside the tall, gothic style windows. in the middle of the room, the huge dining table is broken in half and several ornate chairs are shattered to matchsticks.

An extra person has also appeared! A burly tanuki has joined the party and he looks around curiously. "Oh! Hey guys!" he says waving, "Imagine all of you showing up at the same time as-" he is interrupted as blue smoke swirls around him. When it clears, the tanuki has been replaced with a huge dog, apparently pieced together from several equally large dogs. "Ruh roh," he growls.

None of you are sure how you got here, but Detective, Monk, Worker, and Pianist all know that something strange and terrible is walking these halls with them.

(Willy) As Willy appears in the scene, he is now dressed in a giant trench coat, which drapes down over his back half. Looking to the others, and wears buisness wear over his top half and has a wide brimmed hat. "Hmm....he says, as he pulls out a magnifying glass form his coat, and looks over the displaced table.

(Arimia) Looking toward the others Arimia, now dressed in a tan robe rather than her usual qipao and with a conical hat atop her snake-covered head, frowns slightly. She opens her mouth, as though to say something, before grimacing slightly and shaking her head, pointedly turning her attention away from the others and toward the room as a whole.

(Booker) Booker looked around, then down at the table. "Table broken." He smiles to himself. He then lifts half of the table up, looking underneath. His attire for the most part the same, excepted his shirt was heavily stained.

(Ysadora) Ysadora appears much the same, save that her skeletal armor has been replaced with a prim, tight tuxedo and slacks with a bow tie. Each of her eight floating hands is now wearing a white glove. She shivers and moves closer to the fire, eyes sweeping the shattered chairs. "This place... Something terrible happened here, but what?"

(Fenris) There is nothing here in the dining room to really indicate what is going on, but there is a sound of a distant bell. It is 11 o'clock...

Booker has no trouble shifting aside the table. There is nothing useful underneath, just some remnants of whatever meal was on the table earlier. In this case, it appears to be a human hand...

(Willy) "Hmmm...." the sharply dressed Fox Taur goes, tucking his magnifying glass away. "Looks like signs of weaponized combat here, and the Table was likely a casualty of it." he says, before looking about the room more. "Unless they were pruposedly breaking it, but I would not know what for." As he says this he hears the bell "Huh, guess there is someone alive here...or thats on some sort of automatic timer" he says, before looking over the room more.

(Arimia) Frowning slightly Arimia comments, "There's been a fight. Just say fight." The Monk starts to make her way toward the fireplace of the dining hall, lips curling into a sneer as she mutters, "Weaponized combat... Seriously? Ugh." She pauses by the fireplace, looking for a poker to stir the fire with, and to warm up some from the cold of a large stone hall in winter.

(Booker) Booker picked up the hand, slapping it against his own hand. "High five!" He chuckled dumbly. He then tossed it across the room. He wandered around the room, randomly touching things like an unsupervised toddler. "Room big." He leaned on a random section of wall. "Nothin' fun in here."

(Ysadora) "Someone must have been here recently to light this fire, right? Do you think that happened before or after the battle? Unless..." Ysadora follows a horrible hunch to peer more closely at the licking flames and whatever might be fueling them.

(Fenris) As Detective Willy walks around the room, he notices something odd about the fireplace. Examining the ornate, grotesque carvings on the hearth, he reaches out to press down on the tongue of a fanged monstrosity carved in the stone. It moves with a loud click and the rear wall of the fireplace opens with a sound of grinding stone, revealing a secret passage. At the same time, the carved face chomps down on his hand with a bloody CRUNCH! It does not hold on, just wounds and releases before licking the blood from its stone chops then going still again.

The fire appears to be perfectly ordinary, fueled only by wood. Arimia could probably clear the way with poker she has found.

Meanwhile, Booker has stumbled upon a secret passage of his own! Leaning against the wall, the panel gives way and pivots open, dumping him directly onto a snow covered, narrow ledge on the outside of the castle! He dangles precariously over the edge until the friendly FrankenDog bound up and drags him back from the precipice!

(Willy) Willy starts to say "Well that is an..." before he yelps from the loud chomp and he stumbles backward, and he looks down at his mangled hand. "What in the darkest realms..." he goes, his face grimacing from the pain and the blood from it.

(Arimia) Showing a complete lack of concern for the wounded, or the one who ended up out in the cold, Arimia leans in to peer past the flames. "Huh. Wonder where this leads." Using the poker the serpentine monk shoves the firewood to the side, some spilling out of the fireplace itself, so that there's enough room to get passed. She then bends down to grab a bit of wood that's only burning on one end. "I'm going to find out." Torch in one hand, poker in the other, she slips into the passage.

(Booker) Booker pets the dog. "Big fall. Big hole" He shoved the panel hard. "Stupid wall." He looked to the others. "I make hole in wall!" He waved at the group around the fireplace. He walked away from the hole and toward the fireplace. "Cold." He looked at the stone face adorning it. "Ugly." He just hauled off and punched it.

(Ysadora) "Hey Booker! Quit messing around over there, we've found a hidden route!" Ysadora follows along behind Arimia, carefully stepping her nanotubules over the disturbed firewood and running her hands over the sides of the walls.

(Fenris) The ugly face that concealed the door switch shatters under Booker's fist and a strange shadow rises from it, breaking apart into whisps with a quiet moan...

Beyond the fireplace is a dark, stone corridor, just wide enough for the party to walk single file and not much taller than an average human. It is a bit of a squeeze for the brutish Booker.

Periodically, along the walls, there seem to be little viewing hatches and a cold wind occasionally blows down the tunnel from up ahead.

(Willy) Willy looking back to the table, he sees some shorn piece of table cloth and sighs "Not the greatest but it will do to get it done..." he says, before sitting down on his lowers and using his off hand to bandage up his other, and his teeth to tear the cloth. Once it's satisfactory for him, he looks up, and notices people entering the passage "www...wait up!" he says as he does his best to duck in, the passing too tall for his body.

(Arimia) Arimia proceeds down the passage, though she pauses at each hatch to look through them. At Willy's call she calls back, "Don't be slow!" Unlike some the serpentine woman has no problem fitting through the passage, her smaller size serving her well in doing so.

(Booker) Booker scoots into the passage, Not paying the spirit any mind, using his hands to slide himself forward. "passage so small." He narrowed his eyes to try and see. "So dark. I no like dark."

(Ysadora) Ysadora furrows her eyebrows as she peeks out one of the nearby viewing hatch. "Did anyone just hear that moan?" Always having been compact of frame, she floats through the small passage without any issue, myriad hands still patting and brushing the surrounding walls.

(Fenris) The passage is indeed very dark. Arimia's light does little to alleviate the gloom, casting weird, flickering shadows.

Peering through various hatches reveals limited views to many different rooms. A dusty bedroom, a well lit, though empty study, a library with shelves and books toppled and torn as if by the passing of the battle that ruined the dining room table, even a rather frightening looking torture chamber. A replica, surely. The owner of this castle has some strange tastes...

Ysadora, a few paces behind checks a hatch that Arimia recently left behind and is stunned to find herself looking into a pair of glowing crimson eyes!

(Arimia) Arimia pauses by one of the hatches, specifically the one peering into the library. Using the torch in her hands she examines the wall around said hatch, holding the torch closer to the wall for lighting. "Wonder if there's some way into these rooms from here. The poker is moved to be tucked under the arm holding her torch, leaving her other hand free to roam along the stone of the wall. "If not then we'll just have to follow the passage to it's end."

(Fenris) The medusa monk's questing fingers find a loose stone in the wall. It depresses with a soft click and the wall swings open, granting access to the wrecked library!

(Willy) Willy shurgs a little and sits his dressage a little "Likely from the hatches." he says as he eyes over the many portholes as he struggles through the passage, before he hears the click and the wall opens. "Well thats one way." he says, working out of the passage and into the library, looking around to inspect what it's about, or what happened.

(Booker) Booker kept sliding open all the hatches as he went. "Too small." He used a foot to kick at the wall. "I no like passage... too dark and too stuffy"

(Ysadora) Ysadora lets out a strangled little "Eep!" as she slams the hatch closed and rushes to catch up with the others. "Um, I know this isn't exactly news, but we're definitely, definitely not alone in here. Someone...or something just tried to get me, I think."

(Fenris) Trapped a little ways behind Willy and Arimia, Booker aims a heavy kick at the wall nearest him. There is a sound of shattering plaster and tearing canvas as his booted foot goes straight through the wall that Ysadora is just stumbling back from!

There is a strange sound from the other sode of the wall and some kind of dark, heavy smoke starts to pour through the opening, rising up in the middle of the group, Willy and Arimia unaware as they enter the library, and Booker, Ysadora, and FrankenScooby trapped on the other side!

The library has suffered quite a bit of damage, though mostly just to its bookshelves. Like the dining room, it appears that something very large came stampeding through here, shattering bookshelves and scattering books like leaves. Willy can see that it crashed through a large set of double doors leading into this hige room, so large that much of the collection remains untouched by the passage of whatever fight happened here, but then comes to an abrupt end at a large, stone wall.

(Willy) Willy goes "Hmm...as sees the path of damage and edges up to the. He is about to inspect it when he somehow hears the sounds behind himself, and turns about. Seeing the smoke, he tries to fish for something in his coat to defend himself and he stands there ready for anything coming from the smoke.

(Arimia) The mechanical monk makes her way into the library, her features twisting into a scowl as she takes in the extent of the damage. Arimia pauses, looking at the torch in her hand, then the books scattered about. She casts about for somewhere to set the torch away from the flammables, before pausing on seeing the smoke that separates her and Willy from the others. "That's new." Then the serpentine woman moves back to where the smoke is and thrusts the lit end of the torch at it.

(Booker) Booker spotted the smoke. "GAS!" He shouted as he started to throw hay-makers at the smoke. A bit of drool trailing from his mouth as he wildly swung.

(Ysadora) Ysadora backs away hurriedly from the smoke, waving several hands through the air as if to swat it away. She's concerned not just about whatever might be coming from it, but also Booker's wild jabs and the rapidly-approaching rubble at her back.

(Fenris) The smoke is incorporeal and Booker's fists have no effect on it, though it recoils from Arimia's torch. The dark, oily smoke pours from the breach left by Booker's foot, then writhes along the ground, dodging beneath Arimia's torch and zooming into an open spot on the library floor like a striking serpent.

The smoke bubbles and boils and piles upon itself until it suddenly resolves into a humanoid figure! The oily smoke is gone and in its place is a tall, pale, unnervingly handsome mane with glowing red eyes.

"Trespassers," he growls in a low, melodious voice, "Why do you tread my sanctum?"

(Willy) Willy face stiffens a little but he does his best to hold his demire. "There was talk of a distrubance at the Castle from the local village and we were tasked to find out about it. I apologize if we are tresspassing on your lands for it, but are willing to help if needed."

(Arimia) Arimia draws back as the smoke moves, and when the man congeals from the smoke and speaks her response is a chorus of melodious hisses, from her and the many snakes atop her head. The mechanical medusa settles slightly when Willy speaks, then tilts her head in his direction. "What he said." The monk's eyes remain on the man as she shifts her position slightly, moving clear of the hole in the wall the smoke previously occupied. "Gotta say, I've seen homes in better states of repair. This one... Bit trashed."

(Booker) Booker pants as he rests his hands on his legs. "Stinky gas man." He looked toward the tall pale man. "What Trez-pass?" He furrowed a brow. "STINKY MAN CONFUSING!" He slammed a fist against a bookshelf.

(Ysadora) Ysadora peeks over the rubble, looking into the library and at its new occupant. "Like the detective said, we're here to investigate... Are you the lord of this place? Do you know anything about the battle that happened in the dining room? What's your name? I'm Ysadora, a pianist, and I'm not sure how they roped me into coming here to be honest." She prattles on, nervous in the newcomer's imposing presence.

(Fenris) The vampire's eyes flash, and he is, indeed, a vampire. "Well might the livestock fear," he growls, his voice simultaneously harsh and appealing, "It is only natural that apes should cower when gods go to war!"

He glares at Arimia and her flippant attitude, then throws his head back in a melodious laugh. "You speak truth, mortal," he says, settling his gaze on her, "My sanctum has been invaded by a Star Spawn, child of the Elder gods. Even now it still lurks in the deep places of my keep. It was all I could do to banish it from the upper halls."

He considers the group, "Perhaps you could be of use to me," he muses out loud, suddenly sounding very, very reasonable...

(Willy) Willy Willy looks to Dracula, trying his best to stay stern, a hand in his coat pocket grabbing a taser he recalled he took with him. "Use of us you say, what do you mean by that?"

(Arimia) Without even looking at the others, because why should she, Arimia nods her head at the vampire's words. "Yes, I'm sure we would be glad to help you. Just point us in the right direction."

(Booker) Booker screams "WHERE STARBOI?!?!" He looks frantically around, punching anything with a star on it. "I SMASH STAR!" He huffed as he looked around. "Where?!"

(Ysadora) Ysadora nods twice. "Well, we are here to help, after all. If this 'Star Spawn' thing is what's causing you and the villagers trouble, we'll do what we can about it. What uh...did you have in mind?"

(Fenris) The vampire smiles, showing his fangs. "I have a weapon that would be of great power against the Star Spawn," he purrs, "but it is only of use in the hands of a mortal. If you will use it to rid us all of our mutual enemy, I would consider it a great service."

The vampire strides toward an intact bookshelf against a far wall and reaches up to pull on a heavy, leatherbound book marked, "To Serve Man," and the shelf swings outward, revealing a hidden door!

"Come," my laboratory is here."

The vampires laboratory is everything one could hope for. Strange parts floating in jars, sparking electric things, vats of glowing ooze, a mysterious, covered table, and there, in the center, a pedestal with a strange device covered in unreadable sigils. "Behold," Dracula says, "The Elder Wand."

(Willy) Willy shurgs a bit "

(Willy) Willy shrugs a bit "Alright, if this will settle things." he says as he follows Dracula to the Lab, looking about to note things as he goes. Reaching the laboratory, he looks about a bit awestruk at the experiments, before seeing the wand. Walking up, Dracula prevents him, he picks it up and inspects it.

(Arimia) Arimia looks around the lab once arriving. The mechanical monk slithers closer to the wand once the vampire points it out, though when Willy does the same she turns her attention back to the other items within the laboratory. Her eyes, both the two set in her face and the multitude belonging to the snakes atop her head look about, seemingly trying to take in everything within.

(Booker) Booker shakes his head after following the vampire. "Me no need stick!" He punched his fist. "fist do more than silly stick anyway." He pulled the cloth off the table. "we make trap?"

(Ysadora) Ysadora enters the laboratory with an expression of fascinated interest. "Look, F-Dog! I bet you were made in a place like this." She pauses as the wand is shown and furrows her brow, pulling wet strands of hair back for a closer look. "And this is supposed to help us with the Star Spawn? Why can only mortals use it?"

(Fenris) The FrankenDog whimpers a little, looking around the lab in obvious distress, but unable to leave.

The vampire does not prevent Willy from taking the device. It is not really a wand, but it is a device made up of a rod about a foot and a half long with several rotating sections.

"It is made for mortals," Dracula says, "It would not function in my hands." The vampire reaches out and plucks the device from Willy's hand and it begins to hum with a deep vibration. He quickly drops it back into the foxtaur's grip. "There," he says, "All you must do is touch this to the Star Spawn and twist the rod. The wand will do the rest."

Under the sheet is some kind of monster in pieces. It is hairy all over, like some kind of animal and its seperated head has a fixed, rictus smile and dark, empty eyes. Booker only manages to get a glimpse of the strange, disjointed body before the sheet is whisked over it again. "There is nothing to see here," the Vampire says, having covered the distance so quickly he seemed to teleport.

(Willy) Willy nods softly to that as he inspects the rod a little more out of his own curiosity. "Alright then, where is the Star Spawn at this point?" he asks.

(Arimia) Arimia frowns slightly when the sheet is pulled away, though she can't get a better look, both due to the distance and the speed with which the vampire recovers the thing. Shaking her head slightly she looks toward the vampire and asks, "What will the wand do, precisely, to the Star Spawn?"

(Booker) Booker stares at the vampire. "Well it kinda looks like there is somethin under the sheet." He placed his hands on his hips. "So it looks like you need GLASSES" He pulled the sheet off again.

(Ysadora) "I guess, like the detective said, all that's left is to find the Star Spawn. And decide which of us is going to be dumb enough to run up and poke it with the wand." Ysadora finds her gaze wandering over to Booker and his current antics.

(Fenris) The vampire gently stops Booker's hand and looks him deep in the eye, "You don't need to see what is under this sheet," he says soothingly, then turns to face the others. "The Star Spawn is in the catacombs," he says, leading the group out of the laboratory, leaving Booker with only the memory of a half seen collection of wings and fur and fangs and a dead, empty stare.

"The Star Spawn is a thing of another realm of reality, a place where the rules are... different," Dracula explains, leading through the wreckage of the library toward the blank wall, "The wand is a reality anchor. It will assert *this* reality on the monster. It will disrupt its foothold here and banish it to the beyond." He places a hand on the bare wall and a huge, wrought iron door appears on the blank stone.

(Willy) Willy Sighs a bit, "I guess I should prepare for reality to twist..." he says "Eh, nothing worse than what I've dealt with before" he says, as he awaits for Dracula to open the door, and prepares for whatever awaits.

(Arimia) Arimia lets out a thoughtful hum, looking toward Ysadora when she speaks. Her eyes slip over toward Booker before she shakes her head slightly. As the vampire leads the way out of the laboratory the serpent follows along. She frowns slightly at the explanation before she asks, "And what is this thing likely to try and do to us? Besides physical violence. I do not imagine that is it's only avenue of attack, or it wouldn't give you so much trouble. After all, as someone proved, physical attacks do little to smoke."

(Booker) Booker followed everyone back up to the library. "So how do we get to the cat combs?" He looked at the vampire. He then looked at the door. "Tch, i made a door earlier too." He crossed his arms.

(Ysadora) Ysadora blinks. "That makes...a surprising amount of sense, thank you." She glides along behind the vampire, taking in their surroundings but careful never to fall more than a respectful few steps behind. One disembodied hand picks a piece of castle dust from the shoulder of her tuxedo while another adjusts her bow tie.

(Fenris) Fenris schemes "As I said," Dracula says sonorously, "It is a thing from outside of reality, its very presence is a burden on the faculties. Do not underestimate it, and do not waste your time sympathising with it, end it quickly and send it back to the pit of madness from whence it came."

The vampire pushes the doors open casually, though they groan and grind as though they were incredibly heavy. Cold, fetid air blows from the dark opening."

(Willy) Willy shivers slightly, but is mostly buffeted by his coat, and slowly leads the group down into the Catacombs, doing his best to keep his wits about him.

(Arimia) Arimia moves her head in a small nod, moving toward the catacomb entrance once it's opened. Lifting her torch, other hand still gripping the fire poker, she leads the way through the dark opening.

(Booker) Booker walks past the vampire. "Still think hes a stinky man." He followed the others. "But we go get the star thingy." He stretched, yawning.

(Ysadora) Ysadora scowls as the fetid wind loosens her hair, which she'd just finished tucking behind her ears. Now it's a messy mop hanging over her eyes again. Resigning herself to the do, she follows into the darkness, lurking just behind Booker and making sure to keep the Big Lizard Boi between herself and whatever might be lurking down there. "I guess we'll know this thing if we see it, right? Or feel it, based on what our host said."

(Fenris) The catacombs are dark, though there are torches spaces fairly evenly along the length of the corridors. The corridors of stone are lined with alcoves, each containing an ornate sarcophagus, and though the halls feel labrynthine, the layout is pretty consistant, with even squares and easily mapped passages.

After a walk through the darkness that no doibt felt longer than it really was, the party finds themselves in a vaulted room with large sarcophagi placed in positions of honor in rows. One has been broken open and a huge, bizarre creature is rooting around inside.

It has smooth, greyish skin with muscles rippling and sliding underneathand a slight, oily sheen on it. The creature has a long, thick tail that tapers to a long, whiplike end. Its six limbs all end in long, slender clawed hands and its head is nothing but a mass of writhing tentacles. It is also strangely difficult to look at, as if there is more of it waiting just around a corner that you can't quite comprehend.

(Willy) Seeing the rather strange thing, and thinking it matches Dracula's description, Willy attempt to slowly and quietly walk up to it and checking to make sure the wand is set right, tries to poke it.

(Arimia) The mechanical monk pauses upon spotting the creature amongst the labyrinthine corridors. Her grip tightens on the torch and poker she's holding, though as Willy starts to move forward with the wand, she remains where she is.

(Booker) Booker steps into the room, spotting the creature everyone's lookin at. "star boi." He mutters, his fingers digging into a stone coffin as he hefts it above his head, and sends it sailing at the creature.

(Ysadora) Ysadora detaches herself from Booker's shadow, then skitters to another corner of the room, attempting to use her small size and dark silhouette to avoid attention while she flanks the creature. "Nrk!" As she's moving, Ysadora catches sight of the monstrous face full of tentacles and has to squint her eyes shut against the way it seems to twist her perception up from the inside.

(Fenris) The creature's head comes up as soon as Willy moves into the room, looking for all the world like a sniffing dog, though it has no eyes or noticable nose. A sound echoes from it, like the sound of a deep, tolling bell, though it seems to ring as much on the inside of everyone's skulls as in their ears!

Booker's thrown coffin smashes into the monster, knocking it momentarily off of its feet, though it seems more surprised than actually injured.

(Willy) Willy grimaces and holds his hands and the wand to his ears as he crumples back from the ringing to his bell, before it's stopped from the sudden coffin smash, regathering himself and getting up, he tries to do a leaping thrust at it, with the wand at it's point.

(Arimia) The mechanical medusa moves forward. She continues past the creature, lashing out with the poker in her hand, aiming to use the hooked end combined with her momentum to pull the creature off balance. Her other hand lashes out as well, thrusting the torch hard against it's gray flesh.

(Booker) Booker without even thinking he picked up a SECOND stone coffin, Throwing it at the creature again. "Smash starboy!" He grunted as he flung the heavy stone box at the creature.

(Ysadora) Ysadora steals around from the side, skittering up to the creature while the other attacks fly forward and reaching out. With all eight hands, all forty dexterous fingers, she attempts to slip under one of the Star Spawn's many shoulders and give it the armpit tickle of an immortal lifetime!

(Fenris) The creature attempts to rise. Meaning that one moment it is knocked down and scrabbling in grave dust, and the next it is on its feet and leaping headlong at Booker! The anole can see a mouth full of an improbable number of teeth as he flings another coffin into the monster's tentacled maw, stopping it short so that Arimia's strikes hit true. The flaming brand seems to have little effect, but the iron poker scrapes along the star spawn's side, leaving a long, blackened gash.

Ysadora finds herself in a ticklish situation. Specifically that her tickling seems to have no effect on the beast as it once more flickers to its feet...

Meanwhile, Willy has managed to make contact with the rod! Unfortunately, the moment he makes contact the creature lets loose with another one of those strange, bell-like cries, and this one is at close range!

(Willy) Willy grimcaes at the ringing and holds a his off hand to his ear, but does his best to hold his ground and presses the wand in to force the effect.

(Arimia) The serpentine woman looks at the mark the iron left on the thing, then casually tosses the burning torch to the ground, adjusting her position so that she's opposite Willy on the other side of the creature. "You gotta remember to twist!" The sound from the creature gets little reaction from Arimia, besides a narrowing of her eyes. She settles her stance, holding the poker as though one would a sword, then lunges, thrusting the iron toward the creature in an attempt to drive it toward Willy's wand.

(Ysadora) Determined to make as much of a nuisance as possible, Ysadora attempts to reach up and grab as many tentacles as she can, pulling them in random directions. As she does so, she turns her head all the way around and looks at the wall to avoid seeing whatever she's touching.

(Booker) Booker with his ears ringing, He in a rage picks up a THIRD coffin, He tries to focus on the tentacled beast, sending the coffin flying at its head.

(Fenris) The creature shudders at the touch of the artifact, and then it... twists.

One moment, the party is surrounding the nightmare monster, the next, it is somehow facing a completely different direction, and it leaps away from Willy, knocking him back with its flailing tail.

Arimia fares only slightly better, slashing her poker across its hide again before being slapped aside by a flailing claw. Ysadora on the other hand, after a jarring trip through unreality perched atop the star spawn's back finds that while she managed to get a good grip on the monster's tentacles, has also given it the opportunity to latch on to her!

Fortunately, Booker, though rattled and dealing with double vision manages to slam another stone coffin into the creature, momentarily stunning it again.

(Willy) Willy lets out a Yelp as hes smashed aside and crumbles to the ground, the Wall falling out of his hands. He grumbles as he does his best to get up in the situation and tries his best to regather himself.

(Arimia) Arimia lets out a hiss as she's knocked aside. The sound of metal on stone doesn't come from just the serpentine woman being knocked to the ground, but also the poker she was holding going skittering away from her. Shaking her head slightly her eyes fall on the wand Willy dropped. The mechanical medusa reaches out to grab it, then turns to toss it toward Ysadora. "Do the thing, ghost girl!"

(Booker) Booker steps forward, throwing punch after punch into the beast. Knuckles, elbows, knees, feet. All swinging at the beast one after another. "Stoopid star! You don't even have 5 points!" He shouted as he wailed on the beast.

(Ysadora) Ysadora makes a strangled sound as she's teleported away in a nest of tentacles. She twists and turns, curses, grabs three tentacles to pull them away from her, then reaches out two more hands toward the wand flying through the air! With a gasp, she snatches it, fumbles it, then catches it with her other hand and twists it down into the mass of tentacles below.

(Fenris) Ysadora's catch did not come without a cost. The beast manages to somehow CONSUME one of her ghostly hands. But despite her loss, the ghostly pianist jams the rod home and gives it a twist!

A shudder goes through the beast and the blackened lines where Arimia's iron poker scoured the creature's sides start to fray and crisp, spreading in dark veins across its hide. Black bruises start to spread from the sites of Booker's coffin impacts and a myriad of other wonds start to show on its smooth, grey hide. After only moments, the star spawn crumples to the ground, dead.

Or some kind of eldritch equivalent, anyway.

FrankenScooby peeks out from behind a column where he has been hiding this entire time.

(Willy) Willy struggles himself up and dusts off "Well I guess we did it" he says as he turns to give FrankenScoob some petting.

(Arimia) Arimia pushes herself fully upright and twists her body this way and that, stretching after the hit she'd taken. Then she makes her way toward where the poker fell, scooping that up, and following by grabbing up the torch she'd dropped after seeing it's lack of affect. ""Right. Let's get out of here."

(Booker) Booker approached the crumpled heap of tentacles, breaking off the first thing he saw. "Starboi dummy" He kicked the corpse, then regrouping with the others. "He dead." He held up the peice of the beast. "I take souv.. souvi.. I take part!"

(Ysadora) Ysadora counts her hands. Then counts again. "I think one is missing. Uh... I'm sure it's fine? It'll grow back, right?" She looks concerned for a moment longer before floating over to Willy and scratching Scoob behind the ears. "We did manage it somehow. Nice throw, Miss Robo-Monk. Let's go give the good news and Booker's package to our host!"

(Fenris) Suddenly, the star spawn's body erupts in a cloud of red smoke and the rest of the catacombs billow with fog.

The red smoke rises into the air and spells out "VICTORY!" before the smoke all starts to pour into a space in the midst of the party that resolves into the game box. Shortly, everyone is standing in the old storage room with the game lying inert on the table and everyone back to normal, including a rather dazed Fenris.

(Willy) Willy smiles and gives Fenris a hug "Good to see you not frankendog...How do you keep ending up in these games" he asks.

(Arimia) The serpentine woman glances around once the smoke clears. Then she plucks a silvery cigarette case from her dress, one the tanuki might recognize, once more wearing her usual qipao. A cigarette is pulled from it and brought to her lips, though it is not lit yet. "A part of me wants to go back in to stab the vampire in the face. I dislike having my mind messed with."

(Booker) Booker stands up, stretching. "Geez... i dont even know how long we were in there..." He looked at Fenris. "Oh. Hi, My name is Booker."

(Ysadora) Ysadora blinks. "He was messing with your mind? I just thought we were...being reasonable and helping out? Oh well, not like I would have said no anyway." She checks to make sure all her hands are there, then turns to the newcomer...or former Scoob. "Yes, nice to meet you. Ysadora here, new agent with RSX."

(Fenris) "You were all gone for about two hours," Cassandra says from the door, "You have my thanks. I have forwarded payment to your accounts. Please take the tanuki with you."

@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 /1/2023
 =Log=
-<div></div><div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) A worried looking human girl stands waiting in the lobby of the Interplanar Studies building, periodically checking her comms for replies to her hasty summons. She periodically looks back over her shoulder down the hall.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) The first to answer the call is a Fox Taur, who ambles into the lobby. The teal and silver colored fox smiles as he makes it it in. &quot;There was a call out for help?&quot; he asks, looking rather curious.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) The sound of a car door shutting can be heard from outside the building, and a few minutes later a similar sound, as a trunk is shut. Shortly after that the door opens to admit a mechanical medusa. Upon fully entering, Arimia coils up and settles onto her scales in a seated position, twin revolvers at her hips, along side her sword. She glances toward the fox taur before focusing on the human, though as yet she does not say anything. </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker pushed open the door to the building. &quot;This the right spot?&quot; he glanced around seeing the human looking girl and the two strangers. &quot;I&#39;</div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker fixing.</div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker pushed open the door to the building. &quot;This the right spot?&quot; he glanced around seeing the</div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker  pushed open the door to the building. &quot;This the right spot?&quot; he glanced around seeing the</div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker  pushed open the door to the building. &quot;This the right spot?&quot; he glanced around seeing the human looking girl and the two strangers. &quot;I&#39;d assume so..&quot; He wandered up, glancing at the three of them. &quot;So what seems to be the problem?&quot; He tilted his head.</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) A mild chill settles in the air as a fourth mutant sweeps in through the door, black hair atangle around her face. She looks human at first glance, but appears to be missing a few limbs, hands and feet floating unfixed in the air around her armor as she glides a short distance above the ground. Ysadora sunken eyes flit around until they find the girl and she flushes, approaching. &quot;New agent Ysadora reporting! Did you send out the call, um, ma&#39;am?&quot;</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The young woman looks at the arriving agents and nods. &quot;You will do, I guess,&quot; she says, &quot;You can call me Cassandra. I am the researcher over extraplanar artifacts here at the Interdimensional Studies building. Please follow me and I will explain what is going on.&quot; <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>She turns and leads the way down the hallway. There are a few offices and conference rooms, but she passes them by, leading the way to what seems to be an indoor storage facility with rows and rows of garage door style storage units. She stops by one labeled 707 and waits for everyone to join her. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>&quot;This is the locked containment unit for an extradimensional... board game,&quot; she explains, &quot;And I am afraid that I need you to go inside and play it.&quot; You can all see that the garage door is raised off the ground about three feet, halfway open.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  Chuckles softly &quot;Ah, so the board game is at it agian.&quot; he says &quot;</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) &quot;Alright. I definitly can plan and get this done.&quot; he says and starts to head down the hallway.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Arimia adopts a vaguely amused expression at the woman&#39;s initial assessment of the group, for some reason, but offers no complaints as she follows along behind Cassandra. The serpentine woman starts toward the garage door, though she pauses upon reaching it. Looking back at Cassandra she asks, her voice accentless aside from a mechanical twang to it, &quot;Before I go in, should I fetch my tent and the like? Basically, should I prepare for an extended stay in a hostile area?&quot; </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker followed after Cassandra, stopping at the door. &quot;A board game..?&quot; He shrugged. &quot;I mean not like I have anything better to do.&quot; He smirked. &quot;I hope its Monopoly...&quot; He leaned down peeking inside the door.</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora  floats along with the group, fiddling with her equipment, which looks to have been put on in a rush. A black wax candle nearly falls from one of her hands before she catches it with another that floats into place below. &quot;Playing a board game sounds...simple enough, I guess? But if this is the Interdimensional Studies building, I&#39;m willing to bed this is no ordinary game like monopoly.&quot;</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) Cassandra nods at Willy. &quot;Yes,&quot; she says, &quot;Or more specifically, your idiot tanuki friend has broken in again. I wish I could figure out how he is doing it.&quot; She shakes her head. &quot;The game is meant to be played by no fewer than three individuals, so he is stuck until someone shows up and plays. Don&#39;t worry, the game will tell you how to play it and provide anything you need. It only takes about two hours or so to play.&quot; <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>She turns and raises the garage door, revealing a small, clean storage unit containing only a little card table and a worn looking game box covered with a faded painting of billowing clouds and the words &quot;A Strange Place&quot; emblazoned on it. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>&quot;Good luck,&quot; Cassandra says, letting the group enter and closing the door behind them.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  chuckles a little and sighs &quot;That Tanuki seems to get into everything.&quot; he says with a laugh before he starts to sit down in the first seat. &quot;Minor note to people, knowing he&#39;s stuck, whoever you choose as Companion Fenris will likely become&quot; he says, before he awaits for the choices to appear.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) After making her way over toward the table, Arimia coils up and settles onto her coils, once more, in a seated position. She examines the game box as she idly comments, &quot;Well. Let&#39;s see what sort of game we are playing.&quot; </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker approached the box, taking a place at one of the sides of the table. &quot;and its not even monopoly.&quot; He sat down on the floor, looking down at the box. He glanced at the others in the room. &quot;So.. we all ready?&quot;</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora sits down in the final spot, chains clinking slightly as they make contact with the surface below. &quot;Companion? Have you played this game before, then?&quot; She leans down to study the faded box, careful not to drip any water on it. &quot;Oh, but I&#39;m ready, I suppose.&quot;</div>
+<div></div><div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) A worried looking human girl stands waiting in the lobby of the Interplanar Studies building, periodically checking her comms for replies to her hasty summons. She periodically looks back over her shoulder down the hall.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) The first to answer the call is a Fox Taur, who ambles into the lobby. The teal and silver colored fox smiles as he makes it it in. &quot;There was a call out for help?&quot; he asks, looking rather curious.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) The sound of a car door shutting can be heard from outside the building, and a few minutes later a similar sound, as a trunk is shut. Shortly after that the door opens to admit a mechanical medusa. Upon fully entering, Arimia coils up and settles onto her scales in a seated position, twin revolvers at her hips, along side her sword. She glances toward the fox taur before focusing on the human, though as yet she does not say anything. </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker pushed open the door to the building. &quot;This the right spot?&quot; he glanced around seeing the human looking girl and the two strangers. &quot;I&#39;</div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker fixing.</div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker pushed open the door to the building. &quot;This the right spot?&quot; he glanced around seeing the</div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker  pushed open the door to the building. &quot;This the right spot?&quot; he glanced around seeing the</div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker  pushed open the door to the building. &quot;This the right spot?&quot; he glanced around seeing the human looking girl and the two strangers. &quot;I&#39;d assume so..&quot; He wandered up, glancing at the three of them. &quot;So what seems to be the problem?&quot; He tilted his head.</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) A mild chill settles in the air as a fourth mutant sweeps in through the door, black hair atangle around her face. She looks human at first glance, but appears to be missing a few limbs, hands and feet floating unfixed in the air around her armor as she glides a short distance above the ground. Ysadora sunken eyes flit around until they find the girl and she flushes, approaching. &quot;New agent Ysadora reporting! Did you send out the call, um, ma&#39;am?&quot;</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The young woman looks at the arriving agents and nods. &quot;You will do, I guess,&quot; she says, &quot;You can call me Cassandra. I am the researcher over extraplanar artifacts here at the Interdimensional Studies building. Please follow me and I will explain what is going on.&quot; <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>She turns and leads the way down the hallway. There are a few offices and conference rooms, but she passes them by, leading the way to what seems to be an indoor storage facility with rows and rows of garage door style storage units. She stops by one labeled 707 and waits for everyone to join her. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>&quot;This is the locked containment unit for an extradimensional... board game,&quot; she explains, &quot;And I am afraid that I need you to go inside and play it.&quot; You can all see that the garage door is raised off the ground about three feet, halfway open.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  Chuckles softly &quot;Ah, so the board game is at it agian.&quot; he says &quot;</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) &quot;Alright. I definitly can plan and get this done.&quot; he says and starts to head down the hallway.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Arimia adopts a vaguely amused expression at the woman&#39;s initial assessment of the group, for some reason, but offers no complaints as she follows along behind Cassandra. The serpentine woman starts toward the garage door, though she pauses upon reaching it. Looking back at Cassandra she asks, her voice accentless aside from a mechanical twang to it, &quot;Before I go in, should I fetch my tent and the like? Basically, should I prepare for an extended stay in a hostile area?&quot; </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker followed after Cassandra, stopping at the door. &quot;A board game..?&quot; He shrugged. &quot;I mean not like I have anything better to do.&quot; He smirked. &quot;I hope its Monopoly...&quot; He leaned down peeking inside the door.</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora  floats along with the group, fiddling with her equipment, which looks to have been put on in a rush. A black wax candle nearly falls from one of her hands before she catches it with another that floats into place below. &quot;Playing a board game sounds...simple enough, I guess? But if this is the Interdimensional Studies building, I&#39;m willing to bed this is no ordinary game like monopoly.&quot;</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) Cassandra nods at Willy. &quot;Yes,&quot; she says, &quot;Or more specifically, your idiot tanuki friend has broken in again. I wish I could figure out how he is doing it.&quot; She shakes her head. &quot;The game is meant to be played by no fewer than three individuals, so he is stuck until someone shows up and plays. Don&#39;t worry, the game will tell you how to play it and provide anything you need. It only takes about two hours or so to play.&quot; <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>She turns and raises the garage door, revealing a small, clean storage unit containing only a little card table and a worn looking game box covered with a faded painting of billowing clouds and the words &quot;A Strange Place&quot; emblazoned on it. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>&quot;Good luck,&quot; Cassandra says, letting the group enter and closing the door behind them.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  chuckles a little and sighs &quot;That Tanuki seems to get into everything.&quot; he says with a laugh before he starts to sit down in the first seat. &quot;Minor note to people, knowing he&#39;s stuck, whoever you choose as Companion Fenris will likely become&quot; he says, before he awaits for the choices to appear.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) After making her way over toward the table, Arimia coils up and settles onto her coils, once more, in a seated position. She examines the game box as she idly comments, &quot;Well. Let&#39;s see what sort of game we are playing.&quot; </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker approached the box, taking a place at one of the sides of the table. &quot;and its not even monopoly.&quot; He sat down on the floor, looking down at the box. He glanced at the others in the room. &quot;So.. we all ready?&quot;</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora sits down in the final spot, chains clinking slightly as they make contact with the surface below. &quot;Companion? Have you played this game before, then?&quot; She leans down to study the faded box, careful not to drip any water on it. &quot;Oh, but I&#39;m ready, I suppose.&quot;</div><div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) As soon as the box is touched, blue smoke billows out, filling the room and hiding the door and walls, though the table and the four players remain visible. Then thin tendrils of smoke start to write in the air before each person. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Willy reads, &quot;Name a Genre.&quot; <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Arimia reads, &quot;Name a Setting.&quot; <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Booker reads, &quot;State an Adjective.&quot; <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Ysadora reads, &quot;Choose a Companion.&quot;</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  thinks about it for a moment, and is about to say something but stops. &quot;Ummm....Adventure?&quot; he says, thinking that was meant to be named.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Staring at the smoke, Arimia tilts her head slightly to one side. She glances over at Willy before she says, &quot;Dracula Castle, Romania.&quot;</div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker stared at the smoke for a minute. &quot;Well thats new... uh..&quot; He thought for a moment. &quot;Eldrich.&quot; He looked at the others, wondering if they could see the smoke-crafted words infront of him. &quot;We&#39;re off to a strange start...&quot; He gave a half-hearted chuckle.</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora ponders for a long moment. &quot;Well, since Booker mentioned monopoly earlier, how about a dog for the companion? But we can make it a Frankenstein Dog, to match the setting. Like, all stitched together.&quot;</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The thin smoke writing vanishes and new writing appears to everyone. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>&quot;State Something True about this new world.&quot; <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Meanwhile, red smoke forms in the air... &quot;Eldritch Adventure in Dracula Castle.&quot; <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Each player is also prompted to make a character with one thing they are good at and one thing they are bad at.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  Turns his head a little at this. &quot;Signs of battle are seen within the castle, from what is not known.&quot; he says before looking at the new prompt &quot;Detective, good at Investigation, bad at alertness.&quot;</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Arimia narrows her eyes at the new writing in the smoke. After a few moments of contemplation says, &quot;It is the middle of winter.&quot; Then she settles back slightly, a small frown and says, &quot;Ascetic monk with an unshakable will, but bad at interpersonal skills.&quot; </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker placed his elbows on the table. &quot;Uh... The castle has hidden rooms.&quot; He paused. &quot;Laborer, Strong, but dumb as a rock.&quot; He chuckled watching Ysadora for her answer.</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora squints as she thinks. &quot;Uh, it&#39;s true that this castle has a forbidden underground laboratory, that should be fun. And my character is a pianist who is good at fine manipulation with her dexterous fingers but bad at taking a hit.&quot; She chuckles. &quot;That&#39;s kind of the opposite of me, lately.&quot;</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The smoke swirls, and everyone is momentarily blinded by the blinding fog. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>When the smoke clears, the group finds themselves in a huge, sumptuously decorated dining hall. A fire roars in the huge, stone fireplace and snow falls gently outside the tall, gothic style windows. in the middle of the room, the huge dining table is broken in half and several ornate chairs are shattered to matchsticks. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>An extra person has also appeared! A burly tanuki has joined the party and he looks around curiously. &quot;Oh! Hey guys!&quot; he says waving, &quot;Imagine all of you showing up at the same time as-&quot; he is interrupted as blue smoke swirls around him. When it clears, the tanuki has been replaced with a huge dog, apparently pieced together from several equally large dogs. &quot;Ruh roh,&quot; he growls. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>None of you are sure how you got here, but Detective, Monk, Worker, and Pianist all know that something strange and terrible is walking these halls with them.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) As Willy appears in the scene, he is now dressed in a giant trench coat, which drapes down over his back half. Looking to the others, and wears buisness wear over his top half and has a wide brimmed hat. &quot;Hmm....he says, as he pulls out a magnifying glass form his coat, and looks over the displaced table.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Looking toward the others Arimia, now dressed in a tan robe rather than her usual qipao and with a conical hat atop her snake-covered head, frowns slightly. She opens her mouth, as though to say something, before grimacing slightly and shaking her head, pointedly turning her attention away from the others and toward the room as a whole. </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker looked around, then down at the table. &quot;Table broken.&quot; He smiles to himself. He then lifts half of the table up, looking underneath. His attire for the most part the same, excepted his shirt was heavily stained.</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora appears much the same, save that her skeletal armor has been replaced with a prim, tight tuxedo and slacks with a bow tie. Each of her eight floating hands is now wearing a white glove. She shivers and moves closer to the fire, eyes sweeping the shattered chairs. &quot;This place... Something terrible happened here, but what?&quot;</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) There is nothing here in the dining room to really indicate what is going on, but there is a sound of a distant bell. It is 11 o&#39;clock... <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Booker has no trouble shifting aside the table. There is nothing useful underneath, just some remnants of whatever meal was on the table earlier. In this case, it appears to be a human hand...</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) &quot;Hmmm....&quot; the sharply dressed Fox Taur goes, tucking his magnifying glass away. &quot;Looks like signs of weaponized combat here, and the Table was likely a casualty of it.&quot; he says, before looking about the room more. &quot;Unless they were pruposedly breaking it, but I would not know what for.&quot; As he says this he hears the bell &quot;Huh, guess there is someone alive here...or thats on some sort of automatic timer&quot; he says, before looking over the room more.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Frowning slightly Arimia comments, &quot;There&#39;s been a fight. Just say fight.&quot; The Monk starts to make her way toward the fireplace of the dining hall, lips curling into a sneer as she mutters, &quot;Weaponized combat... Seriously? Ugh.&quot; She pauses by the fireplace, looking for a poker to stir the fire with, and to warm up some from the cold of a large stone hall in winter. </div><div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker picked up the hand, slapping it against his own hand. &quot;High five!&quot; He chuckled dumbly. He then tossed it across the room. He wandered around the room, randomly touching things like an unsupervised toddler. &quot;Room big.&quot; He leaned on a random section of wall. &quot;Nothin&#39; fun in here.&quot;</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) &quot;Someone must have been here recently to light this fire, right? Do you think that happened before or after the battle? Unless...&quot; Ysadora follows a horrible hunch to peer more closely at the licking flames and whatever might be fueling them.</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) As Detective Willy walks around the room, he notices something odd about the fireplace. Examining the ornate, grotesque carvings on the hearth, he reaches out to press down on the tongue of a fanged monstrosity carved in the stone. It moves with a loud click and the rear wall of the fireplace opens with a sound of grinding stone, revealing a secret passage. At the same time, the carved face chomps down on his hand with a bloody CRUNCH! It does not hold on, just wounds and releases before licking the blood from its stone chops then going still again. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>The fire appears to be perfectly ordinary, fueled only by wood. Arimia could probably clear the way with poker she has found. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Meanwhile, Booker has stumbled upon a secret passage of his own! Leaning against the wall, the panel gives way and pivots open, dumping him directly onto a snow covered, narrow ledge on the outside of the castle! He dangles precariously over the edge until the friendly FrankenDog bound up and drags him back from the precipice!</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  starts to say &quot;Well that is an...&quot; before he yelps from the loud chomp and he stumbles backward, and he looks down at his mangled hand. &quot;What in the darkest realms...&quot; he goes, his face grimacing from the pain and the blood from it. </div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Showing a complete lack of concern for the wounded, or the one who ended up out in the cold, Arimia leans in to peer past the flames. &quot;Huh. Wonder where this leads.&quot; Using the poker the serpentine monk shoves the firewood to the side, some spilling out of the fireplace itself, so that there&#39;s enough room to get passed. She then bends down to grab a bit of wood that&#39;s only burning on one end. &quot;I&#39;m going to find out.&quot; Torch in one hand, poker in the other, she slips into the passage. </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker pets the dog. &quot;Big fall. Big hole&quot; He shoved the panel hard. &quot;Stupid wall.&quot; He looked to the others. &quot;I make hole in wall!&quot; He waved at the group around the fireplace. He walked away from the hole and toward the fireplace. &quot;Cold.&quot; He looked at the stone face adorning it. &quot;Ugly.&quot; He just hauled off and punched it.</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) &quot;Hey Booker! Quit messing around over there, we&#39;ve found a hidden route!&quot; Ysadora follows along behind Arimia, carefully stepping her nanotubules over the disturbed firewood and running her hands over the sides of the walls.</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The ugly face that concealed the door switch shatters under Booker&#39;s fist and a strange shadow rises from it, breaking apart into whisps with a quiet moan... <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Beyond the fireplace is a dark, stone corridor, just wide enough for the party to walk single file and not much taller than an average human. It is a bit of a squeeze for the brutish Booker. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Periodically, along the walls, there seem to be little viewing hatches and a cold wind occasionally blows down the tunnel from up ahead.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  looking back to the table, he sees some shorn piece of table cloth and sighs &quot;Not the greatest but it will do to get it done...&quot; he says, before sitting down on his lowers and using his off hand to bandage up his other, and his teeth to tear the cloth. Once it&#39;s satisfactory for him, he looks up, and notices people entering the passage &quot;www...wait up!&quot; he says as he does his best to duck in, the passing too tall for his body.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Arimia proceeds down the passage, though she pauses at each hatch to look through them. At Willy&#39;s call she calls back, &quot;Don&#39;t be slow!&quot; Unlike some the serpentine woman has no problem fitting through the passage, her smaller size serving her well in doing so. </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker scoots into the passage, Not paying the spirit any mind, using his hands to slide himself forward. &quot;passage so small.&quot; He narrowed his eyes to try and see. &quot;So dark. I no like dark.&quot;</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora furrows her eyebrows as she peeks out one of the nearby viewing hatch. &quot;Did anyone just hear that moan?&quot; Always having been compact of frame, she floats through the small passage without any issue, myriad hands still patting and brushing the surrounding walls.</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The passage is indeed very dark. Arimia&#39;s light does little to alleviate the gloom, casting weird, flickering shadows. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Peering through various hatches reveals limited views to many different rooms. A dusty bedroom, a well lit, though empty study, a library with shelves and books toppled and torn as if by the passing of the battle that ruined the dining room table, even a rather frightening looking torture chamber. A replica, surely. The owner of this castle has some strange tastes... <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Ysadora, a few paces behind checks a hatch that Arimia recently left behind and is stunned to find herself looking into a pair of glowing crimson eyes!</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Arimia pauses by one of the hatches, specifically the one peering into the library. Using the torch in her hands she examines the wall around said hatch, holding the torch closer to the wall for lighting. &quot;Wonder if there&#39;s some way into these rooms from here. The poker is moved to be tucked under the arm holding her torch, leaving her other hand free to roam along the stone of the wall. &quot;If not then we&#39;ll just have to follow the passage to it&#39;s end.&quot; </div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The medusa monk&#39;s questing fingers find a loose stone in the wall. It depresses with a soft click and the wall swings open, granting access to the wrecked library!</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  shurgs a little and sits his dressage a little &quot;Likely from the hatches.&quot; he says as he eyes over the many portholes as he struggles through the passage, before he hears the click and the wall opens. &quot;Well thats one way.&quot; he says, working out of the passage and into the library, looking around to inspect what it&#39;s about, or what happened.</div><div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker kept sliding open all the hatches as he went. &quot;Too small.&quot; He used a foot to kick at the wall. &quot;I no like passage... too dark and too stuffy&quot; </div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora lets out a strangled little &quot;Eep!&quot; as she slams the hatch closed and rushes to catch up with the others. &quot;Um, I know this isn&#39;t exactly news, but we&#39;re definitely, definitely not alone in here. Someone...or something just tried to get me, I think.&quot;</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) Trapped a little ways behind Willy and Arimia, Booker aims a heavy kick at the wall nearest him. There is a sound of shattering plaster and tearing canvas as his booted foot goes straight through the wall that Ysadora is just stumbling back from! <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>There is a strange sound from the other sode of the wall and some kind of dark, heavy smoke starts to pour through the opening, rising up in the middle of the group, Willy and Arimia unaware as they enter the library, and Booker, Ysadora, and FrankenScooby trapped on the other side! <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>The library has suffered quite a bit of damage, though mostly just to its bookshelves. Like the dining room, it appears that something very large came stampeding through here, shattering bookshelves and scattering books like leaves. Willy can see that it crashed through a large set of double doors leading into this hige room, so large that much of the collection remains untouched by the passage of whatever fight happened here, but then comes to an abrupt end at a large, stone wall.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  goes &quot;Hmm...as sees the path of damage and edges up to the. He is about to inspect it when he somehow hears the sounds behind himself, and turns about. Seeing the smoke, he tries to fish for something in his coat to defend himself and he stands there ready for anything coming from the smoke.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) The mechanical monk makes her way into the library, her features twisting into a scowl as she takes in the extent of the damage. Arimia pauses, looking at the torch in her hand, then the books scattered about. She casts about for somewhere to set the torch away from the flammables, before pausing on seeing the smoke that separates her and Willy from the others. &quot;That&#39;s new.&quot; Then the serpentine woman moves back to where the smoke is and thrusts the lit end of the torch at it. </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker spotted the smoke. &quot;GAS!&quot; He shouted as he started to throw hay-makers at the smoke. A bit of drool trailing from his mouth as he wildly swung.</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora backs away hurriedly from the smoke, waving several hands through the air as if to swat it away. She&#39;s concerned not just about whatever might be coming from it, but also Booker&#39;s wild jabs and the rapidly-approaching rubble at her back.</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The smoke is incorporeal and Booker&#39;s fists have no effect on it, though it recoils from Arimia&#39;s torch. The dark, oily smoke pours from the breach left by Booker&#39;s foot, then writhes along the ground, dodging beneath Arimia&#39;s torch and zooming into an open spot on the library floor like a striking serpent. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>The smoke bubbles and boils and piles upon itself until it suddenly resolves into a humanoid figure! The oily smoke is gone and in its place is a tall, pale, unnervingly handsome mane with glowing red eyes. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>&quot;Trespassers,&quot; he growls in a low, melodious voice, &quot;Why do you tread my sanctum?&quot;</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  face stiffens a little but he does his best to hold his demire. &quot;There was talk of a distrubance at the Castle from the local village and we were tasked to find out about it. I apologize if we are tresspassing on your lands for it, but are willing to help if needed.&quot;</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Arimia draws back as the smoke moves, and when the man congeals from the smoke and speaks her response is a chorus of melodious hisses, from her and the many snakes atop her head. The mechanical medusa settles slightly when Willy speaks, then tilts her head in his direction. &quot;What he said.&quot; The monk&#39;s eyes remain on the man as she shifts her position slightly, moving clear of the hole in the wall the smoke previously occupied. &quot;Gotta say, I&#39;ve seen homes in better states of repair. This one... Bit trashed.&quot;</div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker pants as he rests his hands on his legs. &quot;Stinky gas man.&quot; He looked toward the tall pale man. &quot;What Trez-pass?&quot; He furrowed a brow. &quot;STINKY MAN CONFUSING!&quot; He slammed a fist against a bookshelf.</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora peeks over the rubble, looking into the library and at its new occupant. &quot;Like the detective said, we&#39;re here to investigate... Are you the lord of this place? Do you know anything about the battle that happened in the dining room? What&#39;s your name? I&#39;m Ysadora, a pianist, and I&#39;m not sure how they roped me into coming here to be honest.&quot; She prattles on, nervous in the newcomer&#39;s imposing presence.</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The vampire&#39;s eyes flash, and he is, indeed, a vampire. &quot;Well might the livestock fear,&quot; he growls, his voice simultaneously harsh and appealing, &quot;It is only natural that apes should cower when gods go to war!&quot; <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>He glares at Arimia and her flippant attitude, then throws his head back in a melodious laugh. &quot;You speak truth, mortal,&quot; he says, settling his gaze on her, &quot;My sanctum has been invaded by a Star Spawn, child of the Elder gods. Even now it still lurks in the deep places of my keep. It was all I could do to banish it from the upper halls.&quot; <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>He considers the group, &quot;Perhaps you could be of use to me,&quot; he muses out loud, suddenly sounding very, very reasonable...</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  Willy looks to Dracula, trying his best to stay stern, a hand in his coat pocket grabbing a taser he recalled he took with him. &quot;Use of us you say, what do you mean by that?&quot;</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Without even looking at the others, because why should she, Arimia nods her head at the vampire&#39;s words. &quot;Yes, I&#39;m sure we would be glad to help you. Just point us in the right direction.&quot; </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker screams &quot;WHERE STARBOI?!?!&quot; He looks frantically around, punching anything with a star on it. &quot;I SMASH STAR!&quot; He huffed as he looked around. &quot;Where?!&quot;</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora nods twice. &quot;Well, we are here to help, after all. If this &#39;Star Spawn&#39; thing is what&#39;s causing you and the villagers trouble, we&#39;ll do what we can about it. What uh...did you have in mind?&quot;</div><div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The vampire smiles, showing his fangs. &quot;I have a weapon that would be of great power against the Star Spawn,&quot; he purrs, &quot;but it is only of use in the hands of a mortal. If you will use it to rid us all of our mutual enemy, I would consider it a great service.&quot; <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>The vampire strides toward an intact bookshelf against a far wall and reaches up to pull on a heavy, leatherbound book marked, &quot;To Serve Man,&quot; and the shelf swings outward, revealing a hidden door! <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>&quot;Come,&quot; my laboratory is here.&quot; <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>The vampires laboratory is everything one could hope for. Strange parts floating in jars, sparking electric things, vats of glowing ooze, a mysterious, covered table, and there, in the center, a pedestal with a strange device covered in unreadable sigils. &quot;Behold,&quot; Dracula says, &quot;The Elder Wand.&quot;</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  shurgs a bit &quot;</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  shrugs a bit &quot;Alright, if this will settle things.&quot; he says as he follows Dracula to the Lab, looking about to note things as he goes. Reaching the laboratory, he looks about a bit awestruk at the experiments, before seeing the wand. Walking up, Dracula prevents him, he picks it up and inspects it.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Arimia looks around the lab once arriving. The mechanical monk slithers closer to the wand once the vampire points it out, though when Willy does the same she turns her attention back to the other items within the laboratory. Her eyes, both the two set in her face and the multitude belonging to the snakes atop her head look about, seemingly trying to take in everything within. </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker shakes his head after following the vampire. &quot;Me no need stick!&quot; He punched his fist. &quot;fist do more than silly stick anyway.&quot; He pulled the cloth off the table. &quot;we make trap?&quot;</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora enters the laboratory with an expression of fascinated interest. &quot;Look, F-Dog! I bet you were made in a place like this.&quot; She pauses as the wand is shown and furrows her brow, pulling wet strands of hair back for a closer look. &quot;And this is supposed to help us with the Star Spawn? Why can only mortals use it?&quot;</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The FrankenDog whimpers a little, looking around the lab in obvious distress, but unable to leave. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>The vampire does not prevent Willy from taking the device. It is not really a wand, but it is a device made up of a rod about a foot and a half long with several rotating sections. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>&quot;It is made for mortals,&quot; Dracula says, &quot;It would not function in my hands.&quot; The vampire reaches out and plucks the device from Willy&#39;s hand and it begins to hum with a deep vibration. He quickly drops it back into the foxtaur&#39;s grip. &quot;There,&quot; he says, &quot;All you must do is touch this to the Star Spawn and twist the rod. The wand will do the rest.&quot; <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Under the sheet is some kind of monster in pieces. It is hairy all over, like some kind of animal and its seperated head has a fixed, rictus smile and dark, empty eyes. Booker only manages to get a glimpse of the strange, disjointed body before the sheet is whisked over it again. &quot;There is nothing to see here,&quot; the Vampire says, having covered the distance so quickly he seemed to teleport.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  nods softly to that as he inspects the rod a little more out of his own curiosity. &quot;Alright then, where is the Star Spawn at this point?&quot; he asks.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Arimia frowns slightly when the sheet is pulled away, though she can&#39;t get a better look, both due to the distance and the speed with which the vampire recovers the thing. Shaking her head slightly she looks toward the vampire and asks, &quot;What will the wand do, precisely, to the Star Spawn?&quot;</div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker stares at the vampire. &quot;Well it kinda looks like there is somethin under the sheet.&quot; He placed his hands on his hips. &quot;So it looks like you need GLASSES&quot; He pulled the sheet off again.</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) &quot;I guess, like the detective said, all that&#39;s left is to find the Star Spawn. And decide which of us is going to be dumb enough to run up and poke it with the wand.&quot; Ysadora finds her gaze wandering over to Booker and his current antics.</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The vampire gently stops Booker&#39;s hand and looks him deep in the eye, &quot;You don&#39;t need to see what is under this sheet,&quot; he says soothingly, then turns to face the others. &quot;The Star Spawn is in the catacombs,&quot; he says, leading the group out of the laboratory, leaving Booker with only the memory of a half seen collection of wings and fur and fangs and a dead, empty stare. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>&quot;The Star Spawn is a thing of another realm of reality, a place where the rules are... different,&quot; Dracula explains, leading through the wreckage of the library toward the blank wall, &quot;The wand is a reality anchor. It will assert *this* reality on the monster. It will disrupt its foothold here and banish it to the beyond.&quot; He places a hand on the bare wall and a huge, wrought iron door appears on the blank stone.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  Sighs a bit, &quot;I guess I should prepare for reality to twist...&quot; he says &quot;Eh, nothing worse than what I&#39;ve dealt with before&quot; he says, as he awaits for Dracula to open the door, and prepares for whatever awaits.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Arimia lets out a thoughtful hum, looking toward Ysadora when she speaks. Her eyes slip over toward Booker before she shakes her head slightly. As the vampire leads the way out of the laboratory the serpent follows along. She frowns slightly at the explanation before she asks, &quot;And what is this thing likely to try and do to us? Besides physical violence. I do not imagine that is it&#39;s only avenue of attack, or it wouldn&#39;t give you so much trouble. After all, as someone proved, physical attacks do little to smoke.&quot; </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker followed everyone back up to the library. &quot;So how do we get to the cat combs?&quot; He looked at the vampire. He then looked at the door. &quot;Tch, i made a door earlier too.&quot; He crossed his arms.</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora blinks. &quot;That makes...a surprising amount of sense, thank you.&quot; She glides along behind the vampire, taking in their surroundings but careful never to fall more than a respectful few steps behind. One disembodied hand picks a piece of castle dust from the shoulder of her tuxedo while another adjusts her bow tie.</div><div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) Fenris schemes &quot;As I said,&quot; Dracula says sonorously, &quot;It is a thing from outside of reality, its very presence is a burden on the faculties. Do not underestimate it, and do not waste your time sympathising with it, end it quickly and send it back to the pit of madness from whence it came.&quot; <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>The vampire pushes the doors open casually, though they groan and grind as though they were incredibly heavy. Cold, fetid air blows from the dark opening.&quot;</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  shivers slightly, but is mostly buffeted by his coat, and slowly leads the group down into the Catacombs, doing his best to keep his wits about him.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Arimia moves her head in a small nod, moving toward the catacomb entrance once it&#39;s opened. Lifting her torch, other hand still gripping the fire poker, she leads the way through the dark opening. </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker walks past the vampire. &quot;Still think hes a stinky man.&quot; He followed the others. &quot;But we go get the star thingy.&quot; He stretched, yawning. </div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora scowls as the fetid wind loosens her hair, which she&#39;d just finished tucking behind her ears. Now it&#39;s a messy mop hanging over her eyes again. Resigning herself to the do, she follows into the darkness, lurking just behind Booker and making sure to keep the Big Lizard Boi between herself and whatever might be lurking down there. &quot;I guess we&#39;ll know this thing if we see it, right? Or feel it, based on what our host said.&quot;</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The catacombs are dark, though there are torches spaces fairly evenly along the length of the corridors. The corridors of stone are lined with alcoves, each containing an ornate sarcophagus, and though the halls feel labrynthine, the layout is pretty consistant, with even squares and easily mapped passages. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>After a walk through the darkness that no doibt felt longer than it really was, the party finds themselves in a vaulted room with large sarcophagi placed in positions of honor in rows. One has been broken open and a huge, bizarre creature is rooting around inside. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>It has smooth, greyish skin with muscles rippling and sliding underneathand a slight, oily sheen on it. The creature has a long, thick tail that tapers to a long, whiplike end. Its six limbs all end in long, slender clawed hands and its head is nothing but a mass of writhing tentacles. It is also strangely difficult to look at, as if there is more of it waiting just around a corner that you can&#39;t quite comprehend.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Seeing the rather strange thing, and thinking it matches Dracula&#39;s description, Willy attempt to slowly and quietly walk up to it and checking to make sure the wand is set right, tries to poke it.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) The mechanical monk pauses upon spotting the creature amongst the labyrinthine corridors. Her grip tightens on the torch and poker she&#39;s holding, though as Willy starts to move forward with the wand, she remains where she is. </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker steps into the room, spotting the creature everyone&#39;s lookin at. &quot;star boi.&quot; He mutters, his fingers digging into a stone coffin as he hefts it above his head, and sends it sailing at the creature.</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora detaches herself from Booker&#39;s shadow, then skitters to another corner of the room, attempting to use her small size and dark silhouette to avoid attention while she flanks the creature. &quot;Nrk!&quot; As she&#39;s moving, Ysadora catches sight of the monstrous face full of tentacles and has to squint her eyes shut against the way it seems to twist her perception up from the inside.</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The creature&#39;s head comes up as soon as Willy moves into the room, looking for all the world like a sniffing dog, though it has no eyes or noticable nose. A sound echoes from it, like the sound of a deep, tolling bell, though it seems to ring as much on the inside of everyone&#39;s skulls as in their ears! <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Booker&#39;s thrown coffin smashes into the monster, knocking it momentarily off of its feet, though it seems more surprised than actually injured.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  grimaces and holds his hands and the wand to his ears as he crumples back from the ringing to his bell, before it&#39;s stopped from the sudden coffin smash, regathering himself and getting up, he tries to do a leaping thrust at it, with the wand at it&#39;s point.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) The mechanical medusa moves forward. She continues past the creature, lashing out with the poker in her hand, aiming to use the hooked end combined with her momentum to pull the creature off balance. Her other hand lashes out as well, thrusting the torch hard against it&#39;s gray flesh. </div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker without even thinking he picked up a SECOND stone coffin, Throwing it at the creature again. &quot;Smash starboy!&quot; He grunted as he flung the heavy stone box at the creature.</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora steals around from the side, skittering up to the creature while the other attacks fly forward and reaching out. With all eight hands, all forty dexterous fingers, she attempts to slip under one of the Star Spawn&#39;s many shoulders and give it the armpit tickle of an immortal lifetime!</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The creature attempts to rise. Meaning that one moment it is knocked down and scrabbling in grave dust, and the next it is on its feet and leaping headlong at Booker! The anole can see a mouth full of an improbable number of teeth as he flings another coffin into the monster&#39;s tentacled maw, stopping it short so that Arimia&#39;s strikes hit true. The flaming brand seems to have little effect, but the iron poker scrapes along the star spawn&#39;s side, leaving a long, blackened gash. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Ysadora finds herself in a ticklish situation. Specifically that her tickling seems to have no effect on the beast as it once more flickers to its feet... <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Meanwhile, Willy has managed to make contact with the rod! Unfortunately, the moment he makes contact the creature lets loose with another one of those strange, bell-like cries, and this one is at close range!</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  grimcaes at the ringing and holds a his off hand to his ear, but does his best to hold his ground and presses the wand in to force the effect.</div><div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) The serpentine woman looks at the mark the iron left on the thing, then casually tosses the burning torch to the ground, adjusting her position so that she&#39;s opposite Willy on the other side of the creature. &quot;You gotta remember to twist!&quot; The sound from the creature gets little reaction from Arimia, besides a narrowing of her eyes. She settles her stance, holding the poker as though one would a sword, then lunges, thrusting the iron toward the creature in an attempt to drive it toward Willy&#39;s wand. </div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Determined to make as much of a nuisance as possible, Ysadora attempts to reach up and grab as many tentacles as she can, pulling them in random directions. As she does so, she turns her head all the way around and looks at the wall to avoid seeing whatever she&#39;s touching.</div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker with his ears ringing, He in a rage picks up a THIRD coffin, He tries to focus on the tentacled beast, sending the coffin flying at its head. </div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) The creature shudders at the touch of the artifact, and then it... twists. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>One moment, the party is surrounding the nightmare monster, the next, it is somehow facing a completely different direction, and it leaps away from Willy, knocking him back with its flailing tail. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Arimia fares only slightly better, slashing her poker across its hide again before being slapped aside by a flailing claw. Ysadora on the other hand, after a jarring trip through unreality perched atop the star spawn&#39;s back finds that while she managed to get a good grip on the monster&#39;s tentacles, has also given it the opportunity to latch on to her! <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Fortunately, Booker, though rattled and dealing with double vision manages to slam another stone coffin into the creature, momentarily stunning it again.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  lets out a Yelp as hes smashed aside and crumbles to the ground, the Wall falling out of his hands. He grumbles as he does his best to get up in the situation and tries his best to regather himself.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Arimia lets out a hiss as she&#39;s knocked aside. The sound of metal on stone doesn&#39;t come from just the serpentine woman being knocked to the ground, but also the poker she was holding going skittering away from her. Shaking her head slightly her eyes fall on the wand Willy dropped. The mechanical medusa reaches out to grab it, then turns to toss it toward Ysadora. &quot;Do the thing, ghost girl!&quot;</div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker steps forward, throwing punch after punch into the beast. Knuckles, elbows,  knees, feet. All swinging at the beast one after another. &quot;Stoopid star! You don&#39;t even have 5 points!&quot; He shouted as he wailed on the beast.</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora makes a strangled sound as she&#39;s teleported away in a nest of tentacles. She twists and turns, curses, grabs three tentacles to pull them away from her, then reaches out two more hands toward the wand flying through the air! With a gasp, she snatches it, fumbles it, then catches it with her other hand and twists it down into the mass of tentacles below.</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) Ysadora&#39;s catch did not come without a cost. The beast manages to somehow CONSUME one of her ghostly hands. But despite her loss, the ghostly pianist jams the rod home and gives it a twist! <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>A shudder goes through the beast and the blackened lines where Arimia&#39;s iron poker scoured the creature&#39;s sides start to fray and crisp, spreading in dark veins across its hide. Black bruises start to spread from the sites of Booker&#39;s coffin impacts and a myriad of other wonds start to show on its smooth, grey hide. After only moments, the star spawn crumples to the ground, dead. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>Or some kind of eldritch equivalent, anyway. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>FrankenScooby peeks out from behind a column where he has been hiding this entire time.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  struggles himself up and dusts off &quot;Well I guess we did it&quot; he says as he turns to give FrankenScoob some petting.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) Arimia pushes herself fully upright and twists her body this way and that, stretching after the hit she&#39;d taken. Then she makes her way toward where the poker fell, scooping that up, and following by grabbing up the torch she&#39;d dropped after seeing it&#39;s lack of affect. &quot;&quot;Right. Let&#39;s get out of here.&quot;</div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker  approached the crumpled heap of tentacles, breaking off the first thing he saw. &quot;Starboi dummy&quot; He kicked the corpse, then regrouping with the others. &quot;He dead.&quot; He held up the peice of the beast. &quot;I take souv.. souvi.. I take part!&quot;</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora counts her hands. Then counts again. &quot;I think one is missing. Uh... I&#39;m sure it&#39;s fine? It&#39;ll grow back, right?&quot; She looks concerned for a moment longer before floating over to Willy and scratching Scoob behind the ears. &quot;We did manage it somehow. Nice throw, Miss Robo-Monk. Let&#39;s go give the good news and Booker&#39;s package to our host!&quot;</div> <div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) Suddenly, the star spawn&#39;s body erupts in a cloud of red smoke and the rest of the catacombs billow with fog. <p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p><p style="height:0.5em;margin:0"></p>The red smoke rises into the air and spells out &quot;VICTORY!&quot; before the smoke all starts to pour into a space in the midst of the party that resolves into the game box. Shortly, everyone is standing in the old storage room with the game lying inert on the table and everyone back to normal, including a rather dazed Fenris.</div> <div title="Willy" style="margin-top:2em">(Willy) Willy  smiles and gives Fenris a hug &quot;Good to see you not frankendog...How do you keep ending up in these games&quot; he asks.</div> <div title="Arimia" style="margin-top:2em">(Arimia) The serpentine woman glances around once the smoke clears. Then she plucks a silvery cigarette case from her dress, one the tanuki might recognize, once more wearing her usual qipao. A cigarette is pulled from it and brought to her lips, though it is not lit yet. &quot;A part of me wants to go back in to stab the vampire in the face. I dislike having my mind messed with.&quot;</div> <div title="Booker" style="margin-top:2em">(Booker) Booker stands up, stretching. &quot;Geez... i dont even know how long we were in there...&quot; He looked at Fenris. &quot;Oh. Hi, My name is Booker.&quot;</div> <div title="Ysadora" style="margin-top:2em">(Ysadora) Ysadora blinks. &quot;He was messing with your mind? I just thought we were...being reasonable and helping out? Oh well, not like I would have said no anyway.&quot; She checks to make sure all her hands are there, then turns to the newcomer...or former Scoob. &quot;Yes, nice to meet you. Ysadora here, new agent with RSX.&quot;</div><div title="Fenris" style="margin-top:2em">(Fenris) &quot;You were all gone for about two hours,&quot; Cassandra says from the door, &quot;You have my thanks. I have forwarded payment to your accounts. Please take the tanuki with you.&quot;</div>[[Category:RPLogs]]

Difference between revisions of "Interdimensional Games-Dracula's Castle - RPLOG"

Latest revision as of 01:08, 30 January 2023

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