|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Sat Apr 17, 2010 12:20 am
The TL;DR Version!
Being written.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:06 am
In the Beginning... Marilyn Balcombe inherited a Curiousities shop from her Grandparents. Seeing it as an opportunity to find direction in her life, she energetically took up the reigns. Since she reopened the Curiousities store, she had seen more than her fair share of people come in, just to look at the eclectic items that managed to accumulate within its walls. One day while cleaning, she came across a Ceramic Figurine of a rabbit, and a feeling of attachment overwhelmed her. It was beautiful! The rabbit had white fur and was wearing a rose coloured dress; it was so vibrant, so full of life! She felt she had to take the item, she had to keep it for her own.
So she did.
The next morning, she noticed that the figurine, the item of her intense longing and attachment, was missing. She searched her house up and down for the little figure. To her amazement, it was not the first thing she found.
Her first discovery was that of a little toddler with ceramic white skin and rose coloured hair. The little girl was clinging to the ceramic figure that had gone missing; only this time, the figure seemed grey. It was lacking the life it once radiated. The item had transferred its energies to create a living form of itself!
After a panic attack and a few desperate phone calls to the police to have them search their archives for a missing toddler, Marilyn decided to raise the little girl on her own. She named her Faline, and Faline grew up beautifully.
Since then, she hadn't heard of anyone who ended up with Toddlers in the place of their items, and Marilyn began to relax.
Months passed, and a woman came to visit. Her name was Switch Gear, and her parents had cruel senses of humor. She was drawn to a Mayan mask, and after she purchased it, she came back two days later with a dark-skinned, half-skull faced boy with a snake growing out of his skull. Despite not having any answers for the shell-shocked and paranoid woman, Marilyn understood what was going on.
Apparently, there were more items in this store with a will to live, but Marilyn couldn't tell which items they were. Ever since Switch purchased the Mayan mask, there have been several other cases where the items a person was drawn to came to life, and yet there was still no answer that could be given.
Then, one bright and sunny day, Switch came to visit the store with Xbalanque, the boy from the Shaman's mask, and found it to be empty. Not empty in the sense of the items going missing; no, it was still a big jumble of unorganized mess, but empty in the sense of no ownership. Marilyn was gone, Faline was gone, and Erich, Marilyn's second Curio child, was gone.
There was a note, however, and it read:
Switch;
I know you'd be the first one in the shop. You always have been! That is why I left it unlocked. I have to leave, and I have to take Faline and Erich with me. Please, look after the shop in my place. Make sure that everything is in order! The keys are underneith the top right hand drawer. I trust you will find it!
Trust your instincts. Stay away from them as much as you should stay near them.
But don't close the shop!
-Marilyn
Marilyn's cryptic words were all Switch was left with. Well, her cryptic words and a giant shop of rather random things. Regardless, Switch eventually took over the shop (of course, this was after a month of staying as far away from it as she could), and to this day she still ponders that strange message given from a woman who just...vanished.The shop has business cards!
Balcombe Curiosities
3700 Rodell Ave
Durem, Gaia
W: 509-078-1294
Switch Gear
C: 509-078-1147
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:07 am
Metaplot 1 Link to Thread: [ X ]
Those involved: Cloaked Figure, Nutbars, Switch, Xbalanque, Evari, Faris, Pilot, Wynn, Deimos, Carina and Ryan.
Synopsis:
Some time prior to these events, the eight Curio children listed above received unusual and new powers.
In the dark of the night, a cloaked figure appears in the shop, which is in the middle of throwing a temper tantrum. The figure, whose voice was neither male nor female yet both at the same time, assured the shop that it would help, since Switch wasn't pulling her weight. It disappeared. Throughout the night, seven homes were visited by hyper active ghost like creatures, each carrying a little medallion.
The first home the creatures visited belonged to Switch, and after a failed attempt to hypnotize her and her Alien Baby, the cloaked figure appeared in the home. This time, it told Switch that she was not doing her job correctly, that it needed to step in now, and that until the situation was corrected she would be placed under house arrest. After magically locking down the home, the figure left with Xbalanque and left the Nutbar behind.
One way or another, the remaining seven smoke creatures, one for each child, lured the children and the Guardians to the shop where the figure, who had taken up Switch's form, waited. Using Switch's voice and face, the figure pleaded with the Guardians to help. It needed them to deliver packages on her behalf.
Apparently, having so many near-to-life items in the shop made it irritable and uncomfortable...even to the point of it being dangerous.
After some convincing and some use of the Nutbar's hypnotic powers, the Guardians each received a gift to deliver and left, leaving the Figure alone with all the children. There it dropped it's charade, and refused to answer questions about who it was.
The Nutbars went absolutely nuts, and in the process mixed up the new powers each of the children possessed! A little too late did the figure notice it, and it was around that time when the real Switch, who had tricked her Nutbar into unlocking the home, burst into the shop. The figure vanished, leaving being quite the mess.
After capturing the Nutbars and pairing up, they eventually had the new powers sorted out, just in time for the Guardians to return from their forced jobs of delivery boys (and girls).
Most of the Nutbars vanished afterwards, yet Faris, Evari, Carina, Pilot and Wynn managed to create enough of a bond to have their Nutbars stay behind with them.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Apr 29, 2010 3:08 am
Finding the Notes So much had been happening lately. Trinity Ospice, along with the Curios Gera and Roxanne, had moved into the second level of the shop. Some time after that Mrrh, the shrunken head that Kay used to bowl with all the time, came to life and decided to life on the main floor of the shop, the store part. Next thing she knew, Kay was disappearing for hours on end; not that it was entirely unusual! Kay disappeared a lot before hand, but he almost always told her where he was going or what he was doing. No; the unusual part was that he never told her where he was, and that he always returned with new wounds.
So many things had been going on at work and at home, and Switch was finding the need to keep her hands busy. The busier she was, the less time she would have to worry and fret, and the longer she could keep her fragile sanity. Her trips into keeping busy usually found her in the basement of the shop, in the two rooms that were probably bedrooms at one point, but were now storage rooms, practically packed from floor to ceiling with boxes and knick knacks.
She would go through the boxes, figure out what was necessary and what was junk, and either put it back into a box for later sorting, or threw it in the garbage to take to the local dump. Today though, she stumbled across a box that was so sealed with duct tape it was practically metallic, but there was something written across the top. The top of the box, in large print with a bold black marker, underlined several times, said 'SWITCH'.
"...What the...?" She grumbled in surprise, grabbing the rather large packing box and dragging it to one of the two visible rooms, where Kay usually spent the night. Sitting on the bed, she at first tried to open it with her fingers; the duct tape wouldn't budge. Pursing her lips, she ran upstairs to the second floor, rooting around in the Ospice's kitchen until she found a knife, returning quickly to the room in the basement.
The box was clearly addressed to her, and inside was obviously important...why else would someone go through all the trouble of duct taping nearly the entire box?
With a knife in hand, she made short work of the duct tape. The lights flickered briefly as the box was opened, a low whoosh of air brushing past her; her curiousity outweighed her surprise, and she eagerly looked into the box.
"...Books?" She said out loud in shock, reaching in and picking up the book closest to the top of the pile. The large box seemed full of them, various ages, various wear patterns and stains. As far as she could see without looking through every one of them, they were all well used. Each book had "J.T. Balcombe" stamped on the front, in the bottom right hand corner. "...Notebooks?" She corrected herself, flipping open the book in her hands, pinching the pile of paper to breeze through them like a flip book. The majority writing was in various shades of black inks, but the style was the same; thick, neat and somehow elegant. The side notes were, as far as she could tell with the quick look through, always in a finer red, green or blue ink, the writing a bit messier than the main bodies.
Pressing her thumb against the pages, she brushed through them, stopping at a random one, focusing her attention on one of the entries.Notebook 1-0429: 2
It seems that this particular Mythos is everywhere; not just related to those in the Orient. I wonder how true it would be...
I wish to find out. I just need a place to start.
Notebook 1-0503: 1
After some thought and some discussions with Anne, we have decided that Durem best suits my needs for this project. We discovered quite a bit of unique magic seems concentrated there, it is perfect.
We have decided to move to Durem, to be able to keep a close eye on it.
Perhaps that charming building in town? It has been for sale since I was a little lad. Abandoned for years and yet in seemingly perfect condition! It seems fitting to test an old story in an old building. Besides, it does have his certain charm about it...
It became quickly apparent that this book had little real information on what he was doing, and so she reached in, bypassing the next two books to grab the fourth from the top, thumbing through that. She left it on a random page.Notebook 4-0909-3
Today, I discovered the perfect item for my little Project. It was sitting in the display of an old Curiousities shop in Barton! A very old crystal bowl. It's readings were perfect! See stats 4-0909-4 This seems perfect! Anne and I are very excited to get this project started. Notebook 4-1025-1
SUCCESS! It worked! God, did it ever work! The Wife and I awoke this morning to the sound of shattering glass. We thought a cat had gotten in and knocked over the bowl! Luckily that was not the case; but on the pedestal where the bowl had been, sat the most peculiar child! A little girl whose skin is more see through than anything, etchings like the ones on the glass all over her body. Her eyes are the cutest pale blue and nearly white, her hair about the same colour and roughly chin length. Looks to be no more than three!
Anne just about cried from joy; we have not yet been able to conceive a child, and lo and behold, the project brought one right to us! We have named the child XXXXXXXXX. Her temperament is quiet and sweet, but she always needs to be holding something; Anne's hand was a favourite for a while, but soon XXXXXXXXX found some mint candies, and carried two around in her tiny hand for the rest of the day.
Some observations;
XXXXXXXXX seems to have taken on most of the qualities from the item itself, and even a bit of the surrounding area! There was a velvet rope nearby that often cast it's reflection against the bowl, and XXXXXXXXX even has faint red lines across her face, torso and ankles. I would not dare test it, but she seems breakable and fragile. XXXXXXXXX is, without doubt, an embodiment of the glass bowl.
As for the bowl itself, it seems to have lost something. it no longer reflect light, it seems dead and dull. When Anne suggested throwing it out, XXXXXXXXX became all panicked and wouldn't stop crying until we promised to keep it safe.
Even more curious is that the item now has no readings. None. Nothing ever has a score of perfect zero across the board...
In conclusion, while XXXXXXXXX is a blessing to us already, she is certainly nothing like what we expected. The Mythos has the item come alive as a sort of monster, and yet XXXXXXXXX is the furthest thing from one...
I will have to watch her carefully from now on.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 1:46 am
The books had mostly been forgotten since then.
The months continued to pass and Kay's life was anything but normal, gaining one hit on top of the next. First there was Kalyana, dragging him down a very, very dark path; then the added stress of a few very life-shattering mistakes that...well, he was trying not to think about it. He still had time, after all. Plenty of it. He could sort it all out, and then life will be just fine again. Honest.
Honest.
As strong as he may have been, even he needed time to sit back and stare at nothing and to avoid everyone. Even if half the time he did so was while he was recovering from wounds he never remembered acquiring. His scar count had upped, but luckily nothing had been terribly life threatening.
It was on one such recovery day, or rather night, that the teenaged Shaman came across the duct tape covered box that was addressed to Switch.
It was already open and in the basement room of the shop, and so the young Shaman never thought twice about reaching in to take a book, opening it up to flip through the pages. These books, he noted, definitely seemed...different. More like the journals Switch suggested he and his Brother keep. Which was good; actual novels made him sleepy. It was enough to pique his curiousity however, and he leaned back on the bed in the basement of the shop, holding the book in such a way it made it comfortable to read.Notebook 9-0924-1
XXXXXXXXX is missing.
XXXXXXXXX would never just up and leave. Lately, she seems so worried, fretful; she kept staring at the ceiling...I wonder what she was seeing?
Something is wrong. Terribly, terribly wrong.
Notebook 9-0926-1
We found her.
But it...it wasn't her. It wasn't our XXXXXXXXX!
Sitting in the middle of the room, staring at the ceiling with glossy eyes. She was...mumbling something. Something in a voice I didn't recognize, in a language that made no sense. It was her body, but not her mind. She didn't respond to us. She didn't move.
She just sat there...staring...mumbling.
Notebook 9-0927-2
Something is there. I can feel it now. I can see it now.
A dark space, darker than the rest. It seemed to be moving, shifting, growing; but never parting from each other.
More of the Item children are arriving every day, and that spot seems to be getting bigger. The place is getting darker and darker, no matter how many times I change the lights. It's like a slow fog is filling up the shop... Anne can't see it. She thinks I'm losing my sight, but XXXXXXXXX, in between bouts of insanity, insists that it is there. Her condition has improved, but now she won't step foot into that shop. She keeps begging me not to go back to it.
I have a theory...but I have no way to prove it.
Notebook 9-1004-1
I am getting...so tired. So...so tired.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 2:23 am
Kay frowned at the page. That's all there was? What the hell?!
A few pages were flipped, but the rest of the entries seemed to be nothing but the inane babble of a man, talking about his day. Meeting a strange little girl and a weary looking pale fellow that followed her. As far as the Shaman could tell, there was nothing new about the dark spot, or the haze, or the shop. He knew it was about his kind and this very shop, what else could it be?
The book was snapped shut and he looked at the cover, etched with a little '9' on the front. This had to have been book nine...where was ten?! Digging around in the box, he found it, pulling it out to read hungrily. Notebook 10-1015-1
XXXXXXXXX set fire to the house.
Anne woke up in the middle of the night and found her, standing in the kitchen, her hands aflame. Anne claims that she was grinning, babbling to her about how this was the way it was meant to be. Something about finally being able to live. She said that our little XXXXXXXXX looked like some sort of monster...
My Poor, Poor Wife...
We barely got out in time.
Notebook 10-1017-2
Now that I'm sitting here in the Shop, hearing the way it groans and shifts; I think my theory is true. That Woman seems to agree. In fact, she doesn't think it's a theory, that it's flat truth.
Should I believe her? It sounds almost ridiculous, but then again...I created children from items. And she seemed so serious when she told me to run. I have never seen her like that before; she's usually so cheery and childlike...
I can't abandon this, I need to find out what happened to XXXXXXXXX. It couldn't have been hormones.
My Theory;
The legend states that items that desire life will come into being as a sort of Monster.
Perhaps, in light of the relatively normal Children this place has been producing, it seems safe to say that this place takes the 'Monster' aspect from them. Keeps it within itself, stores it away...lets the Item Children live as normal, happy children. Lets them choose their own fates.
If I'm right, that means that ever growing dark, writhing spot on the ceiling is-
"I didn't peg you as a scholar, Xbalanque." She teased darkly, her head delicately tilting as a thin finger brushed through the pages. "Ohho, so this is where he kept them..." Kalyana murmured, frowning at the book in her hand. "I should have known. Oh well." With a sigh, she leaned her body against Kay's, wrapping her arms around his neck. Like always, Kay didn't fight back; but he didn't encourage it. His hands remained at his sides on the bed, not touching her at all, save for where she forced him.
"Shaman, my Shaman..." She murmured into his ear like some sort of mantra; his eye darkened in colour, his gaze became unfocused. "These are no concern of yours my Shaman. Forget you even saw them. Here; let me get rid of them for you." The blonde offered sweetly, the book in her hand bursting into flames before it was dropped back into the box with a heavy thud.
The notebooks and the box that held them burned.
The fire did not spread.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
