As people gather their bearings, the staff make a startling announcement. Both the hostesses are missing. As soon as this is said, a haggard looking waiter comes to the main room, to give details. The lights for the most part have either burned out, or exploded. The electrical box can't be reset and something must have taken out the nearest cell tower, as no one has reception. Attempting to do so yourself only confirms the man's statement.
With only cellphone lights, the staff has gathered a few candles to help illuminate the main rooms. However, as time passes, they grow nervous, Ebony and Krystal not yet returning. The winds howl harder, and the booming thunder does little for everyone's nerves. One of the waitstaff, Taylor, says that they'll go outside, check for the women. However, that's when the panic begins. The front doors are locked, and no matter what anyone does, they refuse to budge. The backdoor has the same problem, and the windows refuse to open as well. The only door that opens is to the garden, but it does no good as the garden itself is sealed and the walls topped with iron spikes.
You are trapped.
Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 1:38 am
A tall imposing woman dressed to the nines in her butler uniform steps into the middle of the entertainment room. "Please do not panic!While these events are not planned, nor were we informed of them it is important we remain calm. In light of the mysterious absence of our hostesses, the staff and I have decided it best that we begin to explore the manor and try to find a means outside so we can contact someone to get the tree on the road removed, and ourselves to a safe location."
She looks over the crowd. "Be respectful, be careful, and keep your eyes open. Staff have reported odd figures outside and there have been various noises reported- until we know what is happening, please remain with at least one person or take a staff member to escort you; the time is currently 8:37. Please reconvene here at 9:30 to discuss your findings."
EVENT START
The official investigation stage has begun! A few of you have already begun to unlock clues both to the manor and the story line of the event! As noted, there are updates to the rules/mechanics, the NPC list, and the room list. in 24 hours, the two main investigation threads will become open. Right now, this is primarily for reactions and NPC interaction and investigations of the entertainment room. As the event has now 'closed' if you know of someone who wants to join please have them PM or DM me on discord to discuss options.
Evren Porter - In Entertainment room, with a towel and now cider yum
Evren eyes lit up at the cider she loved anything made with apples. "Thank you!" She said happily taking the cider. "Oh! Please don't let me keep you from your work. I understand how demanding working for your family can be." Taking a sip from the cider only to be startled as someone appeared to tell everyone in the entertainment room not to panic. Only to squint when she then followed up with odd figures outside well that's not going to help people not panic...
Evren decided to sit down in one of the entertainment chairs and finish drinking her cider first. It's not a good idea to try walking around in the dark with a hot drink.
iStoleYurVamps
Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 7:34 am
Marnie Rogers in the Foyer
Overhead she noticed the painting swinging and she reached, almost instinctively to try and catch it before it fell. Blue eyes widened when she thought she spotted something behind it and in the chaos of everything, a part of her feeling like it'd been sucked out and stolen, she became fascinated with what she thought she glimpsed.
Her hand wildly smacked at her friend as she tried to pull the painting off to see what was behind it, ignorant of the staff that had come to check on her. "Bea! I think--"
She looked down, wide eyed and grinning. "Oh man, I told you this place was spooky! You owe me five bucks!" She declared, seeming far too excited about the prospect of things getting spooky given the situation.
But no one had ever called Marnie-Rose Rogers appropriate.
Getting fussed at was low on her priority list, not with all of the weird, creepy feelings and events going on around her, the lights going out to boot. Marnie's hat was almost a casualty of the yank but more importantly a painting had started swinging from the effect --- thankfully, the painting was fine (and also Marnie's hat) but Bea was more worried about the painting because Beatrice Kellye had no source of income and therefore no way to pay the fortune the painting probably cost if it had ripped or torn from the girls' error.
Phew!
That is... until Marnie started trying to actively pull the painting off of the wall.
"Hey, we gotta Scooby Gang up cheaper looking stuff," she argued as she rubbed the stinging hand (because Marnie apparently didn't realize how hard she slapped), "I can't cough up the cash to replace that Mozart or Renoir or whatever the heck it is."
Completely oblivious to the sensation that everyone else was experiencing, Robert Banks focused on the facts:
The lights had now gone out.
Kavinsky was openly holding his hand.
They were stuck in an old mansion with no discernible route home and a hell of a storm going on outside.
The Russian had publicly grabbed his hand, not his arm, his hand.
There was still wine within eyesight (thanks to the eerie candlelight being provided by the staff) that he greatly desired.
"I'm fine," he rasped back to the question, his formerly limp hand now grasping somewhat tightly to the firm, calloused hand that held his.
In truth, Robert Banks was scared shitless. He was all about appearances, however, and wasn't about to look like a scared schoolgirl in front of Mory, Kavinksy and the herd of strangers surrounding them. It didn't matter that he was dressed like some gallant twit - he was a lawyer, goddamnit, and he was a good one and part of being a good lawyer meant being able to bluff and he was going to darn well try to bluff his way out of this situation too.
"I'm sure the storm just took the power out, the staff seem to have everything under control."
Pulling out his cell phone with his free hand, he swallowed hard when he realized there was absolutely no cell service to be had.
As the power went out, the blue haired twit grabbed for both Queenie and Trey, the redhead having none of it as she quickly slapped the other girl's hand away from her. How dare she try to pull her down with her, as if she's some hardy man who's to be expected to support her pitiful attempts at attention!
Worse, Trey was feeding into the girl's fussing, even going so far as to call her a pet name in the process.
Ugh. Those two could just have each other for all Queenie cared -- she would find someone more supportive, someone who actually cared about the well-being of a beautiful woman such as herself. Wrinkling her nose, she made a soft hmph sound as she turned, hair whipping over her shoulder as dark heels took her beyond the room and into the next one, where candles lit up the room like some sort of spooky old castle. Surely there had to be some handsome, single men around just waiting to rescue a damsel in distress, right?
Or, y'know, she could find her boss, sitting and looking perplexed in a chair, as if attempting to blend in to the background and be ignored by the rest of the party, wine glass in hand no less.
"Miss Ellis?"
Her voice failed to hide its surprise as she carefully made her way past other partygoers to verify that it was, in fact, her workaholic boss at this clearly party function. "I... I didn't expect to find you here, did you come alone?"
Could Suri have been hiding a date all of this time? Or juicier - a boyfriend? Curious eyes glanced around but no one seemed to be lingering nearby, disappointing the young woman almost immediately.
Whimsical Blue
Nuxaz
AMItotic
Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 2:17 pm
Shahar (outfit) - Dining Room - heading to kitchen... and back?
Oh! there was a little light, down the hallway, and Shahar traipsed along merrily in the dark, bumping into a staff member on the way. "Thank you," she told the adorable, apparently under-aged waitress, "I am sure it will all be fine. I am not afraid of the dark. I would be very poor at my job if I was." she sidled by, bulldozing her way towards the voice yelling FLASHLIGHT TAG in the near distance. "Goodbye now, little maid. Goodbye!"
As she entered the kitchen, she heard a yelp, and then more whispers, and wandered around in the dark. "I heard Flashlight Tag," she called to introduce herself, "I do not have a flashlight, but I am here for some tag in the darkness. Please point me in the direction that is not that boring entertainment room where all the fuddly-duddlies are going to be hiding from the storm."
Besides, the pool table had been preparing to be otherwise occupied, and not in the way Shahar would personally prefer to occupy it.
Both Roses ignored Jada- ah well, at least they weren't being rude about it, right? Was it still sarcasm if it was mental?
Jada shifted away from Mercy and her boyfriend quietly, angling more towards the window so she could see more of what was in the book. More, and more odd magic rituals. What the hell? That was desperation, if someone was turning to- well, this wasn't like any kind of wicca she'd heard about, though admittedly she wasn't wiccan, but it didn't seem like voodoo to her, either, wasn't that supposed to all be about curses and stuff?
And why was this so well-loved, sitting on the Roses' bookshelf? That, and the other magic books, and the... cancer... what the ********. She turned, gripping at the other magic books she had seen and pulling them off the shelves, pulling out her cell phone to give her some more light, and plopping down on the floor with her bounty. "Mercy," she asked (probably a bit too loudly), "off the top of your head, do you know what brand of magic is healing magic?"
It might be useless, but it was fascinating. It could keep Jada busy for hours, most certainly until 9:30. She considered the pictures more closely, then turned to the articles, looking for any kind of dates, or... names.
"Most of the books were fairly in-line to what one might expect. A few on fashion, history, economics, business management, but as she would look closer a few titles would stand out. There were a few in depth doctor guides on cancer treatments, a few on black magic that looked vaguely authentic, and one book, so well worn, the letters had rubbed away."
"Both Roses ignored Jada- pointedly so. Yet the books held more promise. The well worn book you grabbed in particular seemed to be a journal of sorts. News clippings, articles plastered here and there along with photos. As you flip the pages one thing stands out- The connection to more arcane healing rituals and claims."
Torvil
Sirene Naiads
iStoleYurVamps
Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 4:34 pm
Mathias White is in the Dining Room
As the storm picked up, Mathias decided that it might be better to get away from the windows - and boy was he glad he did when all hell broke loose and the power went out. He'd pulled his phone out of course - no cell signal but the light seemed to be working at least. Well that was something at any rate.
When the candles were brought out he brought his wife closer to them, not that it really mattered but if they were going to start scooby-doing this, he wanted to make sure they didn't get separated.
Especially since he felt decidedly more human than he ever remembered feeling - and he did not like that AT ALL.
--
Mercy Haynes is in the Entertainment Room
Mercy stiffened when everything essentially went to hell in a hand-basket, but she managed to only slightly stumble, grabbing onto Nick's arm as her face paled at the sudden loss of her power. She didn't like that. Her pen was in her clutch - of course - but she didn't dare try and pull it out to test it - that would be incredibly risky and stupid and the last thing she wanted was to call down holy hell.
She was distracted by the light going out, so she grabbed her cell and - of course - no signal.
When Jada plopped down onto the floor Mercy frowned, but pulled on Nick to join her and the other woman as she too sat down next to her.
Safety in numbers and all that.
Healing Magic... Well in most of the games she'd played and in her mothers books...
"White Magic, good magic... in most things," Mercy said. "My mom's books classify healing magic as good magic though it's not like, super common and reserved to certain kinds of relics like the Dragonsoul Pendant and the horns of the Unicorns."
Her cheeks flushed and she worried her bottom lip. "Uhm, some games classify it as necromancy though - which depending on the game is good or bad." She shrugged. "Most magic stuff I've picked up from books, games, and comics, so grain of salt I guess?"
---
Charles is in the Entertainment Room
After he'd dried off his jacket and shirt as best he could (they were still fairly damp and cool and it was not a fun experience) he made his way out of the washroom - in the dark - and tried to assess the situation. He frowned, before he was able to find Sitara, her voice having cut through the din as he made his way over to her...
Being scolded by the staff it looked like. He frowned and shook his head. He made his way over to his date and placed a hand lightly on her shoulder. "I'm here, Sita." He said gently to her.
He bowed his head to the woman attired like a butler - who he assumed to be head of staff and cleared his throat. "My apologies, it seems this series of unfortunate accidents and misunderstandings, coupled with the darker turn to the weather, plus our being stranded here, has my date a bit on edge, I'm sure she doesn't mean ill, just a bit frazzled. Again, my sincerest apologies."
"Right, Sitara?" His voice was more of his instructor voice than his boyfriend one, but there was a gentleness to it. "Just an unfortunate misunderstanding, I think we can leave it at that, no? We are guests after all, we should behave like one."
Of course, given what was going on - that meant probably doing their best to try and locate their hosts so they could get out of there.
Well wasn't this just spectacular? Not only had he been snubbed by the hostess, moody, b***h, but he was now trapped, and no matter how he twisted and turned his cell phone there was no gaining service. Finally he shoved the device into his pocket and muttered something about "this stupid ******** city" before he started looking around himself. Everyone seemed absorbed in their own cliques and as Mahogany hadn't had the chance to form his own band, he was on his own. Which begged the question: did he form one, join one, or go on his own. There was safety in numbers, but numbers meant they were a bigger target for anything nefarious and harder to manage and he would have to manage them.
Best to be on his own, he finally surmised. It'd make for a good story time on his channel later. A Tana-style clickbait-y storytime.
While others tried the front and back doors as well as window, Mahogany noticed one that wasn't being tried. Slipping quietly away from the group, he gently jiggled the handle, finding it giving easily under his hand. Mahgoany had found the garden. He didn't hear if the door closed behind him or not as he slid into the rainy night, caring surprisingly little about his clothing and makeup and more about getting home. Hell, if he looked like s**t, then he'd film like s**t. Make the story that much more real. Besides... if the door to the garden was open then there had to be something there right?
Right?
iStoleYurVamps
Heather Beauchamp -- Entertainment Room
Heather made her way to the entertainment room when the announcement was made, her hands wringing as she moved. She stayed silent, eyes searching the dark when her ears picked up talk of... magic? She followed the sound until she came upon a small group inspecting books that looked... nefarious.
"You shouldn't be handling those," she said instinctively, kneeling to meet the group with her hands outstretched as though to take the book from the older woman (Jada). "Everything resonated with energy, and if the energy in those books is as black as the feeling creeping around this house... it can hurt you..." And then, as though remembering herself, Heather stepped back and curled her arms around her torso, as though protecting herself.
"Um... I mean... writing is intention and... oh gosh. If the intention is to harm, the spells don't need to be spoken to do their job... sorry I'm... third generation... wiccan... and I just..." Her voice was getting smaller and smaller and Heather tried to make her body match her voice. Was it too late to flee?
It would seem yes, as her mouth was still moving and her brain was unable to stop it.
"White magic just means the intentions are selfless. Um... not all healing magic is white magic, as some drain vitality from others to heal the caster. For instance, when I cast upon myself, asking the spirits to calm my anxiety, that is white as it is not acting on anyone else. But if I were to siphon energy from someone else to calm me, that's still healing, but it's no longer white. Um. Sorry."
Finally, she thrust her hand out, head bowed supplicantly, as she introduced herself. "I'm Heather Beauchamp. And if you must handle spell books that you are unfamiliar with, Miss, then you must learn to shield yourself first."
Infinities
Torvil
iStoleYurVamps
just making a comment on the possible healing magic
Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 5:09 pm
Quote:
Penny Figgins is in the entertainment room, talking to Jeff -- the flirty tarot card dealer.
Penny took the card with a smile. It was difficult to see it in the glow of her cellphone. Really, both her and Jeff looked ghoulish illuminated from below the chin. She held the smile when he dropped the juicy bit about an NDA.
An NDA? That wasn't necessarily entirely unheard of for a rich eccentric type. But normally it was reserved for regular staff, the kind who could really see you at a low. The nanny, the live-in butler, the gardener. And these people were just hired for the night, for a public party no less. Why go to the trouble? And more interestingly... what did they ask the staff to do?
Hell yeah, it felt like a story was here. Penny's sense for a scoop was still more ingrained in her than her sense of danger. When the two competed, the producer in her tended to win.
Penny definitely wanted to know more, but she wasn't so stupid as to ask point blank. So she danced around it. "You know how rich people are. They probably have all their delivery guys sign them too, neighbors, the dog-walker. That guy who looked at them that one time on the sidewalk. Have an image to protect and all that. I'm sure it's all just standard stuff, isn't it?'Don't talk about what my nightgown looks like, etc etc.'" Reaching out, she slid a tarot card toward her, brushing Jeff's finger.
And then... the announcements. The locked doors. She made a mental note that there was a garden. She'd be headed there to smoke if this locked door nonsense didn't end. "Missing?" Penny echoed, glancing through the darkness to Jeff. "Ah, so is this part of the secrets they wanted kept -- that this is all a set up for some scandalous murder mystery dinner party? What a lame use of an NDA." It could all be an advertisement. These things were all the rage, and this was a damn good way to promote it. If push came to shove, Penny could run to a corner and transform, vault herself over the garden wall, and be gone. She ignored the tugging in her stomach that that might not be possible.
For now, her focus was still Jeff.
iStoleYurVamps
--------------------------------
Quote:
Bo Hanley is on the floor of the kitchen, chatting with a waitress.
"Oh, right as rain, no pain," Bo said, giving her an okay signal from the floor, if she could see it. It would be helpful to have a cellphone, but he was allergic to technology. His phone could be lost for months at a time, only to be discovered wedged in some unlikely place. Bo never minded losing it; he didn't like to be chained to anything except his moment-to-moment whims.
The waitress was having a hard time? Lucky her! Bo specialized in helping people forget their woes. "Rough night, eh? The party is great! I have a bottle of wine here, plenty of desserts on the counters, and someone was kind enough to set some very dramatic mood lighting. All we need now is a few candles and a birthday cake, and this could be a Sixteen Candles moment right here. Where's Maria? She sounds like she could relax too. Call her over, have a seat, and let's chase the bottom of this bottle. In the darkness, I hardly think anyone will be able to notice you missing." He smiled and patted the floor beside him, encouraging her to sit and take a load off.
Just then, someone else appeared, not that he could really see. "We're going to drink wine on the floor and help our poor girl here feel better," Bo said brightly to Shahar. "Plenty of floor available for all of us. Pastries on the counter. Just need a candle." Most of them had gone to the main rooms, but peering over the counter, Bo spotted a couple left behind for them. He grabbed one and set it on top of the crate he had been sitting on moments ago, illuminating himself, the waitress, and the new girl a little more.
The bottle uncorked with a pop and he tilted it back for a swig, then extended it to the two girls in the kitchen with him.
Infinities
Akina Tokuwa
Offline
Fiction1119
Original Lunatic
Offline
Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 2:20 pm
Pat O'Ryan - in the Dining room
So he wasn't the only one... Pat's mind raced as he tried to figure out exactly what the hollow feeling ment, all the while doing his best to project calmness because freaking out right now would make others panic which was the worst thing possible. "It's probably just a simple electrical issue," His voice a bit louder then it was before, in case anyone was already panicking. "Everything will be fine," Even if his words were steady and calming the hand he placed on Fiona's shoulder belied that.
"Lets get some light first shall we," Pat fished his phone out of his costume pockets, a feature he deliberately added, and turned on the light. The pool of light was one of the many that had been used to illuminate the room, rapidly followed by candles that the staff lit. Between the open flame and the dim light the whole room took on a much more spooky vibe. It was a definite haunted mansion feeling now.
The revelation that the front door was locked just made the bad feeling he had worse. His phone was not getting a signal, they were stuck here, a typhoon was coming down outside, and they were sitting in the dark like schmucks. If ever there was a horror movie clichy moment it was this. "Stick close ladies," He murmured to his two companions, belatedly adding a please. Pat flagged down the closest staffer and asked if he knew if there was a land line. The cell towers might be down but land line phones were much harder to disable, unless it was done deliberately.
Nuxaz
I'm so sorry that i am late on this T.T
beejoux
so so sorry! you guys dont have to wait for me, your welcome to just drag the big lug around with you <3
"I like wine," Shahar answered the voice, peering into the darkness and reaching her hands out so that she could feel her way closer to the direction from which it had come, "And I excel at making other ladies feel better." Her hands brushed against something- perhaps the pastries he had mentioned?- and she gripped at them right as the light illuminated.
Ahh, it seemed that this might, indeed, be pastries. "I do not mind if I do," Shar replied to Bo with a grin, and took the bottle, and a swig. "My name is Shahar Montague. You can call me Shay, if it is easier." Her parents disagreed on how to pronounce her name anyways, with Vartui pronouncing it more like Shey-har, and her father arguing that the Shay-her was probably better, and almost everyone in America seemed to pronounce is Shah-har, and... yeah.
She offered the wine to the girl here that had been mentioned earlier, lips quirking up in a smile. "Try a sip. It will make the evening much easier to survive if we are all drunk."
The young woman had a moment to be taken aback by the look and the words given by the other that stood before her. The moment was there and gone, only to be replaced by charles' hand on her shoulder and his words in her ear.
He was always a smooth talker, but at this moment she wished that he hadn't needed to. She waited for him to make his views known before lowering her head and giving a gentle, yet firm nod.
She didn't speak, she didn't look up, but her fingers coiled into one of his belt loops and quickly made toward the more centralized area of the entertainment room. There was too much, far too much going on. She needed to breathe. The best way to do that was to cleanse the area around her with friends.
Mercy. She needed to find Mercy. She scanned the room, taking slow, deep, breaths before her eyes locked on her friend. It was hard in the darkness, but she dragged Charles and herself over to the small, gathering, group of girls.
She did not even ask to sit. She moved to her knees beside Mercy, all but collapsing against her friend as she released Charles and fell into a silent lump on the floor. All of this, the lack of her powers, the connection to her homeworld, the party and everything connected. It had her on her guard, but all the more, it had her tired.
"I'm so sorry, Charles." She glanced at him and then to Mercy, hoping she had not interrupted anything too very badly.
