[Monster Hearts IC] Sleepshy Rise: Shaken and Sleep Deprived

[Thanqol]

"What do you call a tired skeleton on Halloween? The Grim Sleeper!"

- Dad


SLEEPSHY RISE


A game of Monsterhearts (https://buriedwithoutceremony.com/monsterhearts)

Starring
Amish Pirate as Timothy Oglevee Crompton (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24030919&postcount=47)
Anarion as Annalee Sokolov (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24030190&postcount=44)
Elanorin as Samael Hale (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24024668&postcount=30)
Raz Fox as Elodie Faucher (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showsinglepost.php?p=24020556&postcount=13)

*

It is a dark and stormy night, and the angel is on the warpath.

Beds have been overturned. Rooms have been raided. Sleeping nooks and crannies have been emptied. The cupboard under the stairs has been flushed out and the attic has been scoured. It has decided that tonight is a night when it shall enforce its no sleeping rule in full and so the grounds of Sleepshy Rise are thick with disoriented, grumpy and sleepy monsters all looking for a new hiding place.

This is a perilous environment. Everyone is on the loose, everyone is on edge, and all the ordinary power structures are in flux. Anything could happen. And you all really, really need to find place to settle in if you're going to be at all functional tomorrow.

*

Samael you haven't been spared the angel's wrath, but you have been here long enough to know about a nice hidden spire for this sort of thing. It's a quiet, out of the way bolt hole - a dilapidated tower that can only be entered from a hidden passage inside the walls and ideal for this kind of moment. You're just about to settle in when you smell warm, fresh blood - and in the dim light you see the quavering figure of Tim Crompton blundering into your hide-away. He's all packed up with his books and blankets and a terrified expression and he looks like he's been running. He is your prey and he is in your lair.

How do you make yourself known?

Tim, this has obviously been the worst night ever, but this place looks quiet and comfortable and you cannot go out there again. The Angel has turned over every rock and every beetle is scuttling out into the light and oh my god that metaphor should not be so literal and you can not go out there again. This is the only safe space in the entire castle and you are obviously the luckiest person ever to find it.

Tell me a bit about the horrible things you saw and how you made your way here.

*

Annalee, sometimes magic is in who you know. The angel doesn't fear your hexes, and none of these brutes or demons have the ability to assist you - except, perhaps, that chronic trouble-maker Eliode. She always has ways out and strange angles and strange ways with sleep - she's the name that comes to mind after the angel's deafening point-blank scream starts to fade from your ears. But you don't have anything on her that can compel obedience... you'll need to find a way to persuade or force her to work for you.

What is the plan as it exists in your head, before it meets the strange reality of the Reaper's daughter?

Eliode, you were staying up late to read anyway so you don't know what all the fuss is about. What is your room/space/nest/lair like? What were you reading? Give me the gossip!

[Anarion]

Elly Belly is easy. Just hand her something sparkly or fun and she goes straight for it. Honestly though, down the line Annalee’s going to need to get a laser pointer and see if Elly reacts to it like a cat. 70-30 odds she tries to grab it. But for now, the easiest plan is to just waltz in and give her a little energy. “Hi, we’re friends, what’s up buddy? Oh you’ll let me stay in your place? Thanks!” She might want to gossip or do something weird, doing something weird is kind of her whole thing, so Annalee is ready for that. But treat her like you already own the place and give her just a little bit of perkiness and she’ll do whatever you want.

That’s the plan at any rate.

[Raz_Fox]

Okay, so, the really cool thing about Elodie (not El-di-ode, silly, you make her sound like an electric light or something, learn to read, right?) is that she can usually open the right door when she needs to, so her room is at the top of this little tower, looking right outta something from Rapunzel. There’s one door and it’s on the floor, unless you also count the wardrobe’s door, which her magic totally does. And it is full of flowers.

The room, I mean, not the wardrobe.

They’re hidden under discarded clothes, peeking out from under the bed, arrayed on the windowsill, hanging from the ceiling! But there’s a really high turnover rate, for some mysterious reason, so there’s a compost pile growing far down below, a heaped-up charnel pit of rotten petals and stems. It also means it’s borderline insufferable for anyone with a sensitive nose.

It’s great, surrounding herself with living things! She feels just like a gardener!

Also there’s a bead curtain and a MAMAMOO poster on the wall with lipstick smeared on it and a cute little kitten alarm clock which wakes you up with an evil laugh and a mini sun mobile hanging from the flowers on the ceiling and there’s crystals, like, everywhere, and a big mirror and a little mirror for outfit assessment and makeup respectively and there’s a picture of her precious Black Shuck slavering at the camera which sits by her bed and it was super mean of Dad to say she couldn’t bring Shuckie just because he causes lightning to strike any building he has a seizure in, but don’t worry she sneaks out to give him pats every time she remembers to, and there’s her stuffed Nidhogg on the bed because she still needs his help to get to sleep and there’s also some Cheezit boxes on the desk and that’s about it unless you want to ask me about anything else specifically!

Anyway Elodie was reading Adam’s Blood and Adam’s Boner: Humans, Dating, and You. She got it out of the library saying she needed it for class but her dad would freak if he caught her reading something this dirty. It’s for this reason her heart starts going a million miles an hour and she stuffs it in her pillow when the trapdoor goes “rap, rap, rap.”

“H-hey,” she says, self-consciously pushing her hair back behind her ear, aware she’s just wearing a baggy shirt and short shorts. She thought everybody was totally going to sleep! Geez, you zone out reading about “engagements” and suddenly everyone’s freaking out. “Big guy’s making a mess, huh? Come on in. We can, uh... have a...” What do you call it when it’s not a sleepover?

“...an over,” she concludes, and flashes a smile, hoping desperately that Annalee’s not going to a) make fun of her or b) immediately go to sleep. “Want some cheezits?”

[I am rolling to Turn Annalee On, as I will every time I get the opportunity to get y’all hot and bothered. I rolled a 6. Please destroy me.]

[Elanorin]

A bundle of warm-blooded panic fumbles in to the small spire room. His eyes narrows with annoyance because he just lost his secret knowledge of yet another decent hideout. He could swear the angel's admission policy had changed this year. This place felt fuller than ever of bumbling idiots students. Every single one either over the moon or crushed in defeat to be here. Either relishing in the dark influence that could be found from their fellow misfits or dreading the purgatory of the curriculum's attempt at rehabilitation. One or the other, there was no normal here, no humble mind simply taking it one day at a time, looking to just make the best of each day.

Except for one.

And he just barged in to his own private hideaway. Or, what used to be his own private hideaway. The secret was basically public knowledge the moment the human bustled in.

"Crompton, isn't it?" Samael finally said, voice low and soft, stepping away from the shadowy nook he'd stood in and towards the new arrival. He snapped an old, worn, dusty copy of Herman Melville's famous tale shut.

Did he honestly bring a blanket? Like a toddler?

"You're new." It wasn't a question.

Samael put the book down on the little sill of the tiny narrow window of the spire and looked sideways over his shoulder towards Timothy, eying him head to toe. The lighting in here was dim, not to attract undue attention, but it was enough to show the thirst in his eyes.

[Rolling to Turn Tim On: 5+4+2=11 I take another String on Tim and he chooses a reaction]

[TheAmishPirate]

Tim, this has obviously been the worst night ever, but this place looks quiet and comfortable and you cannot go out there again. The Angel has turned over every rock and every beetle is scuttling out into the light and oh my god that metaphor should not be so literal and you can not go out there again. This is the only safe space in the entire castle and you are obviously the luckiest person ever to find it.

Tell me a bit about the horrible things you saw and how you made your way here.

Why hasn't there been a zombie movie that's gotten the living dead right?

Why hasn't some enterprising makeup artist accurately captured the myriad of organic matter that can - at any time - slough off a dead body?

Why is it that nobody considers the unspeakable trail of detritus that must follow wherever a zombie may go, the extent that a horde multiplies said leavings, and the logistical and gastrointensinal challenges that must await any soul who wishes to cross their past path?

Oh, that's right! Because it's the worst thing any person should ever have to see and he will - ironically - take this night to his grave. Do you want to know how poor Timothy Crompton made it to this tower, when so many others did not? It was because this was the least undesireable of the options set before him.

What's that? You want to know how he discovered the secret passage that led him helplessly into the clutches of a terrible vampire? Oh, that one's easy.

It's because the universe decided he hadn't suffered enough.


A bundle of warm-blooded panic fumbles in to the small spire room. His eyes narrows with annoyance because he just lost his secret knowledge of yet another decent hideout. He could swear the angel's admission policy had changed this year. This place felt fuller than ever of bumbling idiots students. Every single one either over the moon or crushed in defeat to be here. Either relishing in the dark influence that could be found from their fellow misfits or dreading the purgatory of the curriculum's attempt at rehabilitation. One or the other, there was no normal here, no humble mind simply taking it one day at a time, looking to just make the best of each day.

Except for one.

And he just barged in to his own private hideaway. Or, what used to be his own private hideaway. The secret was basically public knowledge the moment the human bustled in.

"Crompton, isn't it?" Samael finally said, voice low and soft, stepping away from the shadowy nook he'd stood in and towards the new arrival. He snapped an old, worn, dusty copy of Herman Melville's famous tale shut.

"I'M AWAKE!" Timothy shrieked, leaping with fright. He managed to only drop some of his worldly possessions. "Y-Yes. Of the...the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons. Sir." He added as he scrambled to collect his things.


Did he honestly bring a blanket? Like a toddler?

"You're new." It wasn't a question.

Samael put the book down on the little sill of the tiny narrow window of the spire and looked sideways over his shoulder towards Timothy, eying him head to toe. The lighting in here was dim, not to attract undue attention, but it was enough to show the thirst in his eyes.

[Rolling to Turn Tim On: 5+4+2=11 I take another String on Tim and he chooses a reaction]

Oh. That was a...novel way to be looked at. (Okay, maybe it happened once before but he couldn't see well enough to check that time no wait don't think about that right now)

Timothy froze, halfway to stuffing a pillow into his bundle of things, suddenly feeling lightheaded for some reason. Perhaps it was the color simultaneously draining and flushing from his cheeks? Perhaps it was realization that he was caught in a trap most perilous and inescapable? Perhaps it was the thought that those noises he heard so long ago were muffled by two windows and at least fifteen feet and there could be plenty of nuance that he'd missed STOP IT YOU STUPID BRAIN CAN YOU PLEASE THINK OF SOMETHING USEFUL

"Not any more new than the other freshman. Sir."

Antagonizing your soon-to-be killer: Brilliant start.

He gulped audibly, and continued. "I'm terribly sorry about all this, I hadn't the slightest idea you were here. With all the commotion, I was...looking for a quiet corner to study in. I found my way here, you surprised me, I dropped my things, you started talking, I started talking, I'm still talking, I haven't quite stopped yet, so I will get on that immediately." He clamped his mouth shut, and assumed his best, most deferential parade rest. Yes, nothing at all to worry about from this meek student of yours. Totally harmless. You can let him go at any time, with zero consequences or regret. "I don't suppose you'd have a closet I could...camp out in?"

Timothy gets awkward and embarrased.]

[Thanqol]

“...an over,” she concludes, and flashes a smile, hoping desperately that Annalee’s not going to a) make fun of her or b) immediately go to sleep. “Want some cheezits?”

[I am rolling to Turn Annalee On, as I will every time I get the opportunity to get y’all hot and bothered. I rolled a 6. Please destroy me.]

As you walk across the room in your state of semi-undress, you pass by one of your open windows. For a moment you're silhouetted perfectly in light, the absolute figure of a woman. And Annalee is not the only one watching.

Outside Carmen Rakam, had turned her head up at just the wrong moment and she sees you there like the angel of death. She doesn't see the cheezits or the dead flowers or the baggy shirt, she sees the most beautiful creature in all the world. She stops and stares so long that the zombie (Cameron Butler, he's an okay sort) almost gets out from under her, but a solid axe blow through the ribcage puts a stop to that.

Carmen stands up, wipes the blood from her hands and picks up her axe, stake, throwing stars, miniature flamethrower and katana. She looks up at the window again - the girl is gone, and she lets out a disappointed but dreamy sigh. Then she shakes her head. Focus Carmen! The Lord Vigilant warned you that they'd try to tempt you in this cursed place! You're here to destroy the forces of evil, not swoon over them!

But... what if she was a human? A prisoner in this place? Maybe she needed to be rescued, not hunted. She looked human, right? It couldn't hurt to take a little look...

[Anarion]

Annalee, who does not have the benefit of Carmen Rakam's perfect silhouette lighting, looks at Elodie once, eyes taking in her baggy shirt and short shorts top to bottom and casually dismisses the entire outfit without so much as twitching her mouth. She says nothing about it though. She herself is wearing a black soft polyester t-shirt and a pair of black pajama pants with rabbits hopping up and down the legs, rabbits being in fashion this season. She never really looks great, but the outfit is a solid choice and soft to the touch, which would be nice if you were to touch her and have enough time to enjoy it before she started chanting in tongues and causing blisters to start sprouting all over the hand.

Anyway, where were we? Ah right, the part where Annalee gladly accepts your invitation and takes the box of cheez-its right out of your hand before sitting down on a crystal-bedecked bean bag cushion that doesn't have any dirt on it, putting her feet up on the nearby clothes pile (open toe sandals still on, of course), and munching on a few cheez-its. "Sure thanks Elly-belly! We can have an 'over' if you want" (she does air quotes when she says over). "what you reading over there?"

[Raz_Fox]

Elly-belly. That’s... what is she supposed to do with that, anyway? Are you calling her fat? Because that’s mean! And also, just because she has some very un-skeletal curves doesn’t mean she’s fat, you’re just jealous, and she totally doesn’t pinch her thighs in the shower and worry about exactly that.

(Between you and me, she’s closer to “bombshell,” but she did not have a lot of healthy body examples growing up, so anything past “skeletal” makes her worry. A lot.)

And then you ask the question. She goes aaaaaaall red, even as she rolls her eyes and tries to play it off. Her heart’s racing as she comes up with a casual answer. “Oh, nothing, really.” That is a terrible answer, try again. “Just some homework. Bleh. Totally boring. But now that you’re here for the over, who even cares about books? We are doing our toenails.”

And she dives into the Makeup Pile by the mirror, looking for the Radioactive Puddle Green and the Jack’s Head Orange. Which, oh no, leaves her with her back turned to Annalee, which gives her an opening for Mischief.

[Anarion]

And then you ask the question. She goes aaaaaaall red, even as she rolls her eyes and tries to play it off. Her heart’s racing as she comes up with a casual answer. “Oh, nothing, really.” That is a terrible answer, try again. “Just some homework. Bleh. Totally boring. But now that you’re here for the over, who even cares about books? We are doing our toenails.”

And she dives into the Makeup Pile by the mirror, looking for the Radioactive Puddle Green and the Jack’s Head Orange. Which, oh no, leaves her with her back turned to Annalee, which gives her an opening for Mischief.

Annalee tries not to laugh. She's looking for a place to sleep, so she's very willing to be tolerant tonight. That's the price, free place to sleep, indulge Elodie, try to only roll her eyes once every 15 minutes or so, don't cast any unnecessary hexes. But then Elodie decides to just turn her back and dive into her stuff while Annalee is surrounded by free strings and tokens. Ah, it's just too good to pass up. She doesn't even have to get up! She does that thing with her feet where she picks up a shirt in between them from the laundry pile and then pulls it over to her. She looks it over: is that Twilight Sparkle shouting Science! ugh what a nerd. Nevermind how Annalee recognizes which pony it is. It will do perfectly though. She quickly rolls it up and stuffs it in her shower bag next to the toothbrush, shampoo, and feminine products.

[If that's not interrupted, Annalee will mark a sympathetic token on Elodie. If it is, she'll mark it anyway, but we'll have to talk about it.]

[Raz_Fox]

And Annalee, flush in her daring and flawless theft, an absolute shadow in the night, undetectable and unstoppable, looks up to see that, yes, Elodie did find the nail polish, and yes, Elodie did just watch her steal a sweaty post-gym shirt. (Because you never throw something in the hamper until you’re positive you won’t need to rewear it.)

Elodie gulps. On the one hand, that’s not cool and she likes that shirt and Twilight Sparkle is best pony. On the other hand, this is Anna Banana. This is the witch who can make horrible things happen to you. There are things so much worse than dying, and Annalee can think of way worse ones than Elodie can.

“...do you need a change of clothes?” Elodie awkwardly tries to imply that it’s her idea to give Annalee some clothes. “I, um, I could lend you one of my skirts?” They’re all a super pretty neon, or tie-die, or covered in cute little suns. “A-and... um...” please don’t ask to borrow her underwear please don’t ask please don’t ask anything else would be cool take her favorite shirt if you want but don’t make fun of her underwear

which is in its own separate “just in case of rewear” pile just under the bed

have mercy, please, for once in your life, Annalee

[Anarion]

“...do you need a change of clothes?” Elodie awkwardly tries to imply that it’s her idea to give Annalee some clothes. “I, um, I could lend you one of my skirts?” They’re all a super pretty neon, or tie-die, or covered in cute little suns. “A-and... um...” please don’t ask to borrow her underwear please don’t ask please don’t ask anything else would be cool take her favorite shirt if you want but don’t make fun of her underwear

which is in its own separate “just in case of rewear” pile just under the bed

have mercy, please, for once in your life, Annalee

Annalee looks over at Elodie. "Yeah, guess I could use something. You can keep the skirt though, yours are a little too bright for me? But the shirt is good, thanks!" Annalee is a good friend Elodie. You should be less nervous. She wants to borrow your stuff, not push too hard. You're so nice all the time, so why should she be mean to you? On that note, now that you've got the nail polish and she's finished eating the cheez-its and put the shirt away, she walks over to where you are and simply picks up the book you tried to tuck away so she can take a look at it while you unscrew the nail polish. It's her space, after all, so she's not being inappropriate. She even pulls her sandal off while she glances over the first few pages of the book and puts her foot up on the cushion next to you so you can paint her toe. What a good friend, right?

[Raz_Fox]

So the book’s all about human mating rituals. Though, really, it’s mostly about mortal humans, right? Not kids like you and Elodie. And it’s all about what the teens these days are into, like trading Pogs and going to the drive-in movie theater. That, and advice on how to feed on them without them noticing that’s actually pretty skeevy. “Thirty-one ways to blow their mortal mind!” “Dealing with the Seal-Skin Dilemma.” “Mayflies and Mountains: how to handle the age gap.”

That’s about as much as you have time to absorb before Elodie tackles you, trying to pry the book away. “No! No! Not! For you! No! Be at rest! Be at rest!!” Silly Elodie, that’s how you’re supposed to handle the restless dead, not snooping hex-happy witches. “You! Are losing! Over privileges!!”

I’m bouncing this one back to you, actually. Someone ends up a) with the book, b) sitting on the other one, c) ideally when Carmen shows up, and I’m not picking who.

[Anarion]

There’s an instant when Elodie comes at her where Annalee is evaluating whether shes really serious, really violent. Blink and you’ll miss it, she can tell Elodie isn’t. And with that she gladly fined up the book and lets Elodie tackle her and sit on her. She puts up only a modicum of resistance, just enough to make it fun. If you haven’t noticed, Annalee is not good at physical activity, like, at all.

When you have her on the ground though, and book secured, what you get isn’t an apology, but a chuckle. “Having fun? I bet that was way better than toenail painting. And oh. my. gosh! Elly Belly! I didn’t know you were into little Timmy! That’s so cute. You should have just told me you wanted a turn, I promise I didn’t use him all up. You be a good girl tonight and we’ll have a fun sleepover and then I’ll let you take a shot at him. Assuming the poor thing survives the Angel tonight.”

Yes, that’s right, she already had him and now she’s dangling him before you like she owns him. I don’t know if Elodie heard that rumor already or what, but Annalee’s straight up confirming it and telling you that you’re coming in 2nd place. Nothing you can do about it.

[Rolling to shut Elodie down and give her the Condition “2nd place.” I got a 9 and I’m not in reach of that shirt to bump it up, so you get to give out a condition in return.]

[Raz_Fox]

Elodie flushes, full of the blood of life, about as far from “elegant psychopomp” as you can get. In that sense, it’s almost like you’re doing her a favor, Annalee! Making her feel all those exquisite emotions, like “hurt feelings” and “jealousy” and “lethal embarrassment.”

“Why do you have to be such a creep,” Elodie says through tearful eyes, and smothers Annalee to death with a pillow.

...

Just kidding! The smothering is non-fatal, just enough to smear Annalee’s makeup a little bit and leave her sputtering while Elodie untangles herself from the pile and shoves the book underneath her mattress.

But don’t you feel a little greasy, Anna Banana? A little like a nasty creep skulking into other people’s lives? You should. Why don’t you go hang out in the basement with the ghouls and eat rotten bbq tenders? I’m sure that’s much more your speed.

[Inflicting “Creep” right back atcha!]

“Whatever. Let’s just get this Over over with,” Elodie says, wiping at her face to get rid of those incriminating tears. “You still want me to paint your nails, or are you saving that for your first date with him?” That doesn’t even make a lot of sense, as barbs go, Elodie! You gotta make up for it by putting some venom in it.

[Anarion]

But don’t you feel a little greasy, Anna Banana? A little like a nasty creep skulking into other people’s lives? You should. Why don’t you go hang out in the basement with the ghouls and eat rotten bbq tenders? I’m sure that’s much more your speed.

[Inflicting “Creep” right back atcha!]

“Whatever. Let’s just get this Over over with,” Elodie says, wiping at her face to get rid of those incriminating tears. “You still want me to paint your nails, or are you saving that for your first date with him?” That doesn’t even make a lot of sense, as barbs go, Elodie! You gotta make up for it by putting some venom in it.

You'd think, right? But then again, you're talking to the girl that just straight up "borrowed" your sweaty shirt like it was no big deal. Creep is an accurate title, I think she'll own it, even if maybe in the right moment it might be something that really sticks and gives you leverage.

"No, you go ahead, it will give you good practice, Elly Belly." She gives her a little smile because we are still friends and aren't we having fun at our sleepover. "I'll take alternate orange and green, and then I'll do yours however you like, then we can get some sleep for tomorrow."

[Raz_Fox]

Elodie glares. Straight up glares! But the temptation of Glitterbomb Pink Supernova is strong. And everybody knows the best way to get your nails done is by a friend at a sleepover!

Well. A “friend.”

But as bad as Annalee is, she’s still... kind of okay to hang out with, compared to everyone else. So she doesn’t respect your space, and takes your stuff, and says real terrible stuff about the guy you like. What the heck ever. At least Annalee won’t try to eat her in the middle of the night or go on and on and on about regaining her evil throne once she escapes, yadda yadda. Give it a rest, Alex! Nobody cares!!

“Fine,” she says, finally. “But my place, my rules, got it?”

[Anarion]

“Fine,” she says, finally. “But my place, my rules, got it?”

Annalee settles in with her foot in place to let Elodie get started, wiggles her toes a little, and sits up with a nod to show Elodie that she is paying very close attention. Her makeup is a little smeared, she'll have to fix that in the morning, but right now she's giving Elodie her full and focused attention. "Got it. Tell me all about your rules, I wouldn't want to break one by accident."

[I think the fiction demands that she is trying to turn Elodie on here, despite how bad Annalee is at that. 3. I give you this gift, Thanqol.]

[Thanqol]

Annalee settles in with her foot in place to let Elodie get started, wiggles her toes a little, and sits up with a nod to show Elodie that she is paying very close attention. Her makeup is a little smeared, she'll have to fix that in the morning, but right now she's giving Elodie her full and focused attention. "Got it. Tell me all about your rules, I wouldn't want to break one by accident."

[I think the fiction demands that she is trying to turn Elodie on here, despite how bad Annalee is at that. 3. I give you this gift, Thanqol.]

The door crashes inwards dramatically and a ninja soars into the room dramatically!

And then crashes hard directly into the ground and doesn't move.

Razor sharp high heels click into the room. Alex Malkarovic, Queen of Darkness, black and red and poison, strides in confidently and puts a foot on the dazed girl's neck. "Good evening, Annalee and... companion," she said, glancing down at the scene with the perfect smugness of someone whose toenails were naturally red. "I was just happening by and I noticed this lovely little mortal eavesdropping on you, the blackguard! And of course, I thought," and here she dropped a large, serrated knife on the floor directly in front of you, "you would like the opportunity to make an example of her yourself."

Behind Alex a small posse of watchers and hangers on are starting to poke their heads in through the door, or climb the tower to press their faces against the glass. And despite everything, this isn't Alex being mean - she's been trying to get on your good side for a while now, and in her mind this is how that is done.

[Anarion]

And despite everything, this isn't Alex being mean - she's been trying to get on your good side for a while now, and in her mind this is how that is done.

Oh Alex. You poor, dumb queen of darkness. This is a miss at like three different levels.

First off, the offering is idiotic, ritual killing someone like that dagger implies in front of old GR's daughter. So rude! That's like dumping all your food onto somebody's floor and handing them a broom and dustpan to deal with it. Alex should know better, though it sounds like she doesn't even know who Elodie is.

Second, she's brought a whole crowd of monsters that are even climbing the tower and standing around in the hallway. While the Angel is on the warpath! Subtlety much? They were all going to have to get out of here if the Angel found this hideout, he definitely wouldn't let anyone sleep here.

Third, why would you offer a Witch a sacrifice offering? Like, okay I'll give Alex a little credit here. In a more peaceful context, it would be nice to knock out an eavesdropper, give Annalee time to collect some appropriate sympathetic tokens, and then kill her off for the Angel to revive somewhere else. But here, now? See points 1 and 2, but a murder here would just attract the Angel's attention because of somebody trying to leave school.

God, just, like, as if putting up with Elly Belly before getting a good night's sleep wasn't bad enough.

So, reaction shot. Annalee looks this whole thing over like wtf is this psycho doing? "Uh, Quailex, was it? You always barge in without knocking and throw your trash in front of other people? Like, seriously, personal boundaries. Plus, like, could you pay attention to your surroundings, oaf? It's Angel warpath night and you brought a crowd, just, like, so dumb." Annalee wiggles her toe at Elodie like don't stop for this oaf.

[Rolling to shut Alex down. 5+6+2=13. Giving her the condition Oaf]

[Raz_Fox]

“Well, obviously, the first rule is ask before touching. It’s a good rule for whole bunches of things. Secondly, don’t sit on my flowers. Thirdly—“

The trapdoor flies open and someone comes hurtling into the room and Elodie’s first instinct is to hurl a pillow at the figure, shrieking about how there’s no sleeping here. Luckily, it’s just a ninja! And pillows are notoriously powerful against ninjas, so we have nothing to fear.

“Uh, yeah,” Elodie says, taking Annalee’s side for multiple reasons, not just because that’s the safest place to be. “Rude much? I don’t need a ghost around here wailing about how I won’t release them from the mortal coil and junk.”

Then she turns back to working on that middle toe like someone who’s totally not whipped.

[Elanorin]

"I'M AWAKE!" Timothy shrieked, leaping with fright. He managed to only drop some of his worldly possessions. "Y-Yes. Of the...the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons. Sir." He added as he scrambled to collect his things.

The shriek had been met with nothing more than a very slow blink, Samael's face didn't betray much of the extreme annoyance at the sudden loud and shrill sound.

Mental note, don't scare the human.

The words almost spoke themselves in his mind as the unpleasant instinctive cringe trickled down his body.


Oh. That was a...novel way to be looked at. (Okay, maybe it happened once before but he couldn't see well enough to check that time no wait don't think about that right now)

Timothy froze, halfway to stuffing a pillow into his bundle of things, suddenly feeling lightheaded for some reason. Perhaps it was the color simultaneously draining and flushing from his cheeks? Perhaps it was realization that he was caught in a trap most perilous and inescapable? Perhaps it was the thought that those noises he heard so long ago were muffled by two windows and at least fifteen feet and there could be plenty of nuance that he'd missed STOP IT YOU STUPID BRAIN CAN YOU PLEASE THINK OF SOMETHING USEFUL

"Not any more new than the other freshman. Sir."

Antagonizing your soon-to-be killer: Brilliant start.

He gulped audibly, and continued. "I'm terribly sorry about all this, I hadn't the slightest idea you were here. With all the commotion, I was...looking for a quiet corner to study in. I found my way here, you surprised me, I dropped my things, you started talking, I started talking, I'm still talking, I haven't quite stopped yet, so I will get on that immediately." He clamped his mouth shut, and assumed his best, most deferential parade rest. Yes, nothing at all to worry about from this meek student of yours. Totally harmless. You can let him go at any time, with zero consequences or regret. "I don't suppose you'd have a closet I could...camp out in?"


Freshman.

Hells below. Trust a human to label themselves with the most appetising word possible. It was as if they were standing in line begging to be taken.

"No." Samael tried not to smile. "No closet. I hear staying in them are bad for you mental wellbeing. Besides, you might fall asleep. I can't possibly allow a Fresh Man to do that."

He slowly walked up to Timothy and reached out a hand to straighten a strand of his hair. It was pointless considering the mess the boy was in, but he was on the hunt and the prey stood right there so ready, warm, dishevelled and... warm.

"I understand the Headmaster's current mood is intimidating to you. But this space is mine. You really can't be here, Crompton of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons. You understand that, don't you?"

"Though... saying that... I could perhaps be convinced to share... if you were to offer me something in return..." his eyes traced down Timothy's face to his neck and collarbone.

[Pulling Strings on Timothy, spending 1 String to Tempt him to give me what I want]

[TheAmishPirate]

"No." Samael tried not to smile. "No closet. I hear staying in them are bad for you mental wellbeing."

Since when did monsters know that turn of phrase?

And why is this what my mind chooses to think about right now?! Useless thing...


He slowly walked up to Timothy and reached out a hand to straighten a strand of his hair. It was pointless considering the mess the boy was in, but he was on the hunt and the prey stood right there so ready, warm, dishevelled and... warm.

"I understand the Headmaster's current mood is intimidating to you. But this space is mine. You really can't be here, Crompton of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons. You understand that, don't you?"

"Though... saying that... I could perhaps be convinced to share... if you were to offer me something in return..." his eyes traced down Timothy's face to his neck and collarbone.

[Pulling Strings on Timothy, spending 1 String to Tempt him to give me what I want]

Timothy stood frozen in meek, unassuming, stiff posture, for if he disengaged his knees for the slightest second they would amost certainly tremble themselves to pieces. "But, this is school grounds. It's all school grounds. None of us own much further than our boots and trousers." A distant roar - accompanied by a choir of trumpets - announced another set of unruly miscreants had been told just that.

Oh, what was even the use? Even if Samael saw reason, what was he to say? 'Yes yes, do stay over there on that side of the room Mr. Vampire, while I drift off to sleep in my corner, completely defenseless and vulnerable.' Staying here meant either a sleepless night or...or a terrible fate, and leaving? He did not know what leaving meant. He knew some of what leaving might mean, and surely he hadn't seen the worst of it yet. It was the vampire he knew (would slay him (probably)) versus the devil(s) he didn't.

He couldn't stop the low, frightened moan from escaping his throat. All he'd wanted was a simple night's rest...

"But, yes, I do understand the inconvience-" oh no he was touching his hair he was touching him bad bad bad bad BAD "-and would gladly offer you something in recompense-" He hid his poor neck behind his bundle as best as he could. "-but what could I possibly give up? Disregarding...a-anything of painful and ultimately fatal consequence? I don't suppose you fancy jigsaw puzzles...?" Even just saying the words, he had to hug his belongings tight. When would he ever find another puzzle in this horrid place? But these were desperate times, and his neck was on the line.

And we're to puns now. Crisps and crackers, I'm doomed.

[Thanqol]

God, just, like, as if putting up with Elly Belly before getting a good night's sleep wasn't bad enough.

So, reaction shot. Annalee looks this whole thing over like wtf is this psycho doing? "Uh, Quailex, was it? You always barge in without knocking and throw your trash in front of other people? Like, seriously, personal boundaries. Plus, like, could you pay attention to your surroundings, oaf? It's Angel warpath night and you brought a crowd, just, like, so dumb." Annalee wiggles her toe at Elodie like don't stop for this oaf.

[Rolling to shut Alex down. 5+6+2=13. Giving her the condition Oaf]

There was a ripple of malicious giggles from the crowd. All of a sudden they're not her people any more, and you can see how much the sudden sense of isolation spooks her. You can see the fight or flight reflexes starting to kick in. Being laughed at by people is terrifying enough but being laughed at by monsters is potentially terminal. In that moment she can back down, throw down or double down.

She doubles down - joins in the laughter with her own fake giggle. "Oh, 'Lee, you're so funny!" smile cementing into place. "Anyway, what do you want to do with the spy? Hex her? Curse her? Trap her in an eternal nightmare?" She's transparently hoping the redirection works and you focus your ire where she was originally hoping to send it - and just as transparently hoping you'll teach her some magic. She's been dropping hints along those lines for a while now.


“Well, obviously, the first rule is ask before touching. It’s a good rule for whole bunches of things. Secondly, don’t sit on my flowers. Thirdly—“

The trapdoor flies open and someone comes hurtling into the room and Elodie’s first instinct is to hurl a pillow at the figure, shrieking about how there’s no sleeping here. Luckily, it’s just a ninja! And pillows are notoriously powerful against ninjas, so we have nothing to fear.

“Uh, yeah,” Elodie says, taking Annalee’s side for multiple reasons, not just because that’s the safest place to be. “Rude much? I don’t need a ghost around here wailing about how I won’t release them from the mortal coil and junk.”

Then she turns back to working on that middle toe like someone who’s totally not whipped.

"Help... please..." the hunter whispers through the stiletto crushing down on her neck. She reaches out to you with a shaking hand, like you're the only good thing left in a terrible universe.

You've seen that look a lot. Not so often while they've still got a beating heart, though.

[Anarion]

There was a ripple of malicious giggles from the crowd. All of a sudden they're not her people any more, and you can see how much the sudden sense of isolation spooks her. You can see the fight or flight reflexes starting to kick in. Being laughed at by people is terrifying enough but being laughed at by monsters is potentially terminal. In that moment she can back down, throw down or double down.

She doubles down - joins in the laughter with her own fake giggle. "Oh, 'Lee, you're so funny!" smile cementing into place. "Anyway, what do you want to do with the spy? Hex her? Curse her? Trap her in an eternal nightmare?" She's transparently hoping the redirection works and you focus your ire where she was originally hoping to send it - and just as transparently hoping you'll teach her some magic. She's been dropping hints along those lines for a while now.



"Help... please..." the hunter whispers through the stiletto crushing down on her neck. She reaches out to you with a shaking hand, like you're the only good thing left in a terrible universe.

You've seen that look a lot. Not so often while they've still got a beating heart, though.

Annalee waves dismissively at the assembled onlookers with a pointed look at Alex. "All of them out, and shut the door. You want to stay oaf, make sure the Angel doesn't interrupt us, dah?" It's a dangled hope. Alex might not even have that much power over the crowd, but she's also not going to admit that in front of all of them, now is she? So let's see what she can do. Consider it a try-out for not being kicked out at night.

Annalee looks over at Elodie, who is starting to paint one of her nails nuclear green. "So, Elly belly, this is your room, your rules you were saying. This is yours now, then. Would you like me to do magic on your ninja?"

[Raz_Fox]

How is anybody supposed to properly focus on toenail painting around here? Especially with a ninja looking at you like she’s a lost and helpless puppy. (She’s seen a lot of those, tagging along with dad on the job. Usually in sacks.) That, and big decisions tossed onto your shoulders! Wow, it’s a lot!

“Weeeeell...” Elodie says. On the one hand, if she’s too nice, she won’t have any cred with Annalee. And Alex, but Alex is kind of an oaf, isn’t she? Hardly worth worrying about. On the other hand, helpless puppy ninja.

“...you’ve got to give somebody a chance,” she concludes. “Like chess, or poker, or laser tag. If she wins, she gets to go free. If she loses, you get to do all the magic you want on her. Either way, she also has to explain why she was snooping.” Elodie nods, satisfied with how ably she’s managed to thread the needle.

She scoots over and offers her hand to the ninja with a dorky smile, one shoulder loose from her oversized shirt, her hair a mess. “That sound fair to you, Miss Ninja?” And though she’s just a little breathy because she’s been breathing quickly with the high stress of a ninja being thrown into the room, well, someone flailing for a life preserver in the middle of shark-infested waters might see that as more.

[That’s a lucky 13 on turning our Ninja — Carmen? — on.]

[Elanorin]

He couldn't stop the low, frightened moan from escaping his throat. All he'd wanted was a simple night's rest...

"But, yes, I do understand the inconvience-" oh no he was touching his hair he was touching him bad bad bad bad BAD "-and would gladly offer you something in recompense-" He hid his poor neck behind his bundle as best as he could. "-but what could I possibly give up? Disregarding...a-anything of painful and ultimately fatal consequence? I don't suppose you fancy jigsaw puzzles...?" Even just saying the words, he had to hug his belongings tight. When would he ever find another puzzle in this horrid place? But these were desperate times, and his neck was on the line.


Samael didn’t even dignify the jigsaw puzzle suggestion with an answer. He honestly just offered him a children’s toy? Hell, this one would taste sweet.

“It’s hardly ever fatal,” Samael said, voice like velvet, eyes still on Tim’s neck. His fingers went from Timothy’s hair to gently trace his jawline.

[TheAmishPirate]

Samael didn’t even dignify the jigsaw puzzle suggestion with an answer. He honestly just offered him a children’s toy? Hell, this one would taste sweet.

“It’s hardly ever fatal,” Samael said, voice like velvet, eyes still on Tim’s neck. His fingers went from Timothy’s hair to gently trace his jawline.

How wonderful. I'll be certain to take the bloodthirsty predator's safety assessment into consideration.

Timothy shuddered at Samael's touch. This was all wrong. He shouldn’t even be here, much less here! He ought to have ran away; far, far away. This couldn't be the safest place available. Surely there were options. Why was he still speaking to him? He was a vampire. A monster. Dangerous! Get away from him, you fool! You know this beast! You know his nature. Violent and cruel and insatiable and not caring a whit for you once he’d eaten his fill. There shouldn't be a lick of softness in his soul. In his dread, iron clutches, mortals ought to feel fear! Terror! Despair!

And no comfort.

“You failed to mention the pain.” Could Samael feel his pulse beneath his fingers? Flying, tearing, straining against his pale skin. “...does it hurt?” he asked quietly.

[Thanqol]

Annalee waves dismissively at the assembled onlookers with a pointed look at Alex. "All of them out, and shut the door. You want to stay oaf, make sure the Angel doesn't interrupt us, dah?" It's a dangled hope. Alex might not even have that much power over the crowd, but she's also not going to admit that in front of all of them, now is she? So let's see what she can do. Consider it a try-out for not being kicked out at night.

Annalee looks over at Elodie, who is starting to paint one of her nails nuclear green. "So, Elly belly, this is your room, your rules you were saying. This is yours now, then. Would you like me to do magic on your ninja?"

"Of course, sweetgums," said Alex with toxic sugariness. "Anything you say."

Whatever else the Queen of Darkness has going on, she's surprisingly adept at clearing out large groups of monsters. Something about a background in royalty, or maybe it's just the sword made out of lava. Hard to say.


How is anybody supposed to properly focus on toenail painting around here? Especially with a ninja looking at you like she’s a lost and helpless puppy. (She’s seen a lot of those, tagging along with dad on the job. Usually in sacks.) That, and big decisions tossed onto your shoulders! Wow, it’s a lot!

“Weeeeell...” Elodie says. On the one hand, if she’s too nice, she won’t have any cred with Annalee. And Alex, but Alex is kind of an oaf, isn’t she? Hardly worth worrying about. On the other hand, helpless puppy ninja.

“...you’ve got to give somebody a chance,” she concludes. “Like chess, or poker, or laser tag. If she wins, she gets to go free. If she loses, you get to do all the magic you want on her. Either way, she also has to explain why she was snooping.” Elodie nods, satisfied with how ably she’s managed to thread the needle.

She scoots over and offers her hand to the ninja with a dorky smile, one shoulder loose from her oversized shirt, her hair a mess. “That sound fair to you, Miss Ninja?” And though she’s just a little breathy because she’s been breathing quickly with the high stress of a ninja being thrown into the room, well, someone flailing for a life preserver in the middle of shark-infested waters might see that as more.

[That’s a lucky 13 on turning our Ninja — Carmen? — on.]

Okay! You were trained for this, Carmen! In the event of being challenged to a game by dangerous supernatural forces then you must apply the following principles:
- Nothing to do with knowledge, you don't know what they know.
- Nothing to do with raw physical power, you don't know what they're capable of.

Ideally something entirely foreign to a monstrous creature, something involving skill, co-ordination, precision and gentleness. Something li -

"Beach volleyball," she blurts. "I challenge you to a game of beach volleyball!"

Nailed... it?

[Take a string on her]

[Raz_Fox]

[X]: 2ND PLACE

“Oh, that’s easy,” Elodie says with a laugh, bouncing up to her feet. “We can get the swimsuits once we get there, everybody.”

She bounds over to her wardrobe, and raps three times on the door with her fingers. When she swings it open, on the other side is the crash of waves and the cries of seagulls on the shore, and a wave of wet heat that rolls into the room.

“Hup, hup, up,” she says, with a flourish. Sure, it’s against the rules, but you can’t have a game of beach volleyball without a beach, and when you think about it, what’s worse: breaking your word, which is very naughty and bad, or briefly bending the rules about where you’re allowed to go?

The door’ll stay open, so, like, it’s not like they’re actually going anywhere, it’s just that the beach is coming to her room, if you think about it, really!

[That’s a 12 on Through the Looking Glass, opening the way to the Island of Circe.]

[Anarion]

CONDITION: Creep

Now see, this was shaking out much better than expected. Alex had a lava sword and everything, and maybe the Angel wouldn’t bother them. And now Elly was being useful too. She might even be able to learn something from this.

“Oh excellent, excellent. I won’t be playing of course, but I would love to watch and spend the night not here. Quailex, excellent lava-sword work, come join us and we’ll learn about some proper magic.”

I look over my newly lime toenails with some pleasure. Elodie is proving herself actually valuable, and I am thinking regrettably, that I will really be obligated to return the favor later.

[I’m accepting Elodie leading me into a supernatural situation. She gets a string, I get an XP.]

[Raz_Fox]

“Oh excellent, excellent. I won’t be playing of course, but I would love to watch and spend the night not here. Quailex, excellent lava-sword work, come join us and we’ll learn about some proper magic.”

[X]: 2ND PLACE

“Um, yeah, you will,” Elodie says with a giggle that turns into a little snort. “There’s four of us, right? So two of us act as the opposition and one of us helps out the ninja. Because real beach volleyball is always two versus two, obviously.”

She hops up, waving everybody onwards, her bare feet sinking ever so slightly into the warm sand. “Ninja, who do you want on your team?”

[Thanqol]

Let's draw back a bit. Take this more slowly, give everyone their proper introductions.

Alexstralia Unvadr, Queen of Darkness, Exile of the Magma Pit - defeated in battle by a legendary champion and condemned in her weakened state to the reform school at Sleepshy Rise. Her skin is ashen black and her blood is lava; her name is terror and her words are poison. She is a martial champion and commander of legions - though her attempts at subtlety leave much to be desired. She has taken as her project in her enforced downtime the practice of subtlety, manipulation, cunning and sorcery so that she might be able to trick and undermine those she was unable to conquer with direct force. The process of learning subtlety as one who has none, however, is a bit of a grind and she leans very heavily on the crutch of 'be manipulated by my charms or have a sword of molten lava impale your chest'.

She is an oaf, this is true. But the polite fiction that she is not is the primary thing that keeps her from burning the world around her to ruin. She takes jibes and teasing as part of the process but be cautious when pushing her.


Whip and wheel: Alexstralia can form, break, command or terrorize mobs, crowds or groups. She can make an example of someone to clear a Condition.
Obviously the smartest: Alexstralia believes any flattering lie without reservation or hesitation.


Carmen Rakam, Shadow in the Night, the Wandering Exorcist, Guardian of Garvendale. In her path the shadows fill with blood and if there was a list of the beasts she had slain most residents of Sleepshy Rise would see at least one name they recognized. Sleepshy Rise is the final trial for those who would be full members of the Ordos Nocturne - the greatest concentration of monsters, the greatest concentration of targets. Her role is to bring destruction to as many as possible and escape - a mission compromised only by her desire to remove the innocent denizens of the castle from her list of victims.


A lifetime of training: When Carmen Rakam reveals her identity she can execute every single one of her plans simultaneously.
Insufficiently ruthless: Carmen cannot harm anyone who she has conflicted feelings about.


She has just realized with a terrible shock that Elodie is not, in fact, one of those innocents. She is a monster just like all the rest - of what kind, she has no idea. But this means that she is in a situation where she does not have to worry about civilian casualties.

A tiny glass vial falls from her sleeve and her boot crunches it a second later. A whirlwind of thick, choking smoke erupts - a storm in a bottle, but still nothing to the swiftness and suddenness of this assassin. Her blade licks out once, twice, inflicting deep cuts on the Queen of Darkness and Annalee. It is a total coincidence that all Elodie gets from this exchange is a kick, just enough to cover Carmen as she gets through the portal and seal it shut with a runic gauntlet.

Annalee, all of a sudden you're alone in Elodie's room with Alexstralia - and you have significant doubts that this will remain a decent hiding place without Elodie's presence. Also take 1-harm from your cut.

Elodie, you're in a strange tropical environment, staring down an implacable ninja with a bloody katana whose intentions r.e. beach volleyball are no longer as clear.

[Elanorin]

How wonderful. I'll be certain to take the bloodthirsty predator's safety assessment into consideration.

Timothy shuddered at Samael's touch. This was all wrong. He shouldn’t even be here, much less here! He ought to have ran away; far, far away. This couldn't be the safest place available. Surely there were options. Why was he still speaking to him? He was a vampire. A monster. Dangerous! Get away from him, you fool! You know this beast! You know his nature. Violent and cruel and insatiable and not caring a whit for you once he’d eaten his fill. There shouldn't be a lick of softness in his soul. In his dread, iron clutches, mortals ought to feel fear! Terror! Despair!

And no comfort.

“You failed to mention the pain.” Could Samael feel his pulse beneath his fingers? Flying, tearing, straining against his pale skin. “...does it hurt?” he asked quietly.

Samael took his time to answer thisone. The look on Tim's face was too good and had to be savoured. It made up for all the crappyness of this evening so far.

"Yes," he said, honestly. Samael was not one to shy away from a lie when occasion called for it, but more often than not, he'd found, the truth was far more delicious than any lie.

"But perhaps you won't care."

[Raz_Fox]

“Oh no,” Elodie says, in sudden dread, looking at the panicked, bloody-katana-wielding ninja. “This is just like that story about the frog and the scorpion.”

Sudden realization strikes her. “And Scorpion is a ninja, how could I not have seen this coming??”

Okay, there’s no need to panic. (Bloody katana.) There is mild need to panic.

“Okay, Miss Scorpion,” Elodie says, taking the sort of tone one might with a horse ghost you’re trying to coax into following you to a place with lots of sugar cubes forever, “I need you to please put the sword away. It is not a valid tool for beach volleyball, and we have to play beach volleyball. Otherwise, like, what’s to stop Leelee from cursing you into a real scorpion?”

[I am afraid of this turning into the parable of the frog and the scorpion, which ends with both of them drowning. Keeping My Cool with a 7; tell me how trying to calm Carmen down will leave me vulnerable.]

[Anarion]

Annalee, all of a sudden you're alone in Elodie's room with Alexstralia - and you have significant doubts that this will remain a decent hiding place without Elodie's presence. Also take 1-harm from your cut.


Annalee dusts herself off, winces. "Alright, I am capable of admitting that I can be wrong, and this was clearly a missed opportunity to make good use of a sacrificial dagger. Next time you bring me someone to work magic on, Alex, I will take this into account." Annalee was being very magnanimous considering that Alex had actually caused this problem, but she didn't see a lot of value in pointing that out while they were alone and stuck here without the psychopomp to shield them.

So, think Annalee, what to do next. Honestly, all she wanted tonight was a bit of sleep, so the need here was to find a new safe place to rest. She had such plans to start work on a sanctum in the castle, that would be so useful, but those were barely getting off the ground for now. So, up was out of the question, they were already at the top of a tower and magic did not include flight at the present. Down meant going back into the main castle and the shaken up masses. Perhaps somewhere the angel had already checked, one of the lower dorms if they could sneak past. Alex would be worthless for that though. Perhaps she had a safe place for herself?

Annalee holds out a hand to Alex, her cut bleeding with hot blood, her shirt and skirt rumpled and out of place, legs exposed, skin bare. Her hand and her stance says without saying let's go together, I'll make it worth your while.

[Rolling to turn on Alex. Got a 12, so that's an 11 even with the -1. I get a string and can pick one of the three reactions.]

[Thanqol]

“Oh no,” Elodie says, in sudden dread, looking at the panicked, bloody-katana-wielding ninja. “This is just like that story about the frog and the scorpion.”

Sudden realization strikes her. “And Scorpion is a ninja, how could I not have seen this coming??”

Okay, there’s no need to panic. (Bloody katana.) There is mild need to panic.

“Okay, Miss Scorpion,” Elodie says, taking the sort of tone one might with a horse ghost you’re trying to coax into following you to a place with lots of sugar cubes forever, “I need you to please put the sword away. It is not a valid tool for beach volleyball, and we have to play beach volleyball. Otherwise, like, what’s to stop Leelee from cursing you into a real scorpion?”

[I am afraid of this turning into the parable of the frog and the scorpion, which ends with both of them drowning. Keeping My Cool with a 7; tell me how trying to calm Carmen down will leave me vulnerable.]

There's confusion, hesitation in the midst of that steely resolve. She's not expecting pleading and haggling, she's expecting you to reveal your true form and attempt to curse her with the primordial powers of darkness. You can lean into that - you're an innocent here, you're not really magical at all, that was probably Annalee's spell, or maybe she enchanted you or something? You're just an ordinary person and she should be saving you rather than coming after you.

And as long as you hold to that, things will be great! As long as you don't show the slightest whiff of the supernatural she'll be your guardian and defender rather than your assassin. A dangerous gamble, especially on an enchanted island awash with unknowable perils, but still less immediate than a sword to the heart right this instant.


Otherwise, like, what’s to stop Leelee from cursing you into a real scorpion?”

"The power of holy justice?" said the assassin with a unique mixture of total confidence and serious uncertainty. A little more boldly, (and a lot more unwisely, given whose island this is), she continues "I do not fear sorceresses."



Annalee dusts herself off, winces. "Alright, I am capable of admitting that I can be wrong, and this was clearly a missed opportunity to make good use of a sacrificial dagger. Next time you bring me someone to work magic on, Alex, I will take this into account." Annalee was being very magnanimous considering that Alex had actually caused this problem, but she didn't see a lot of value in pointing that out while they were alone and stuck here without the psychopomp to shield them.

So, think Annalee, what to do next. Honestly, all she wanted tonight was a bit of sleep, so the need here was to find a new safe place to rest. She had such plans to start work on a sanctum in the castle, that would be so useful, but those were barely getting off the ground for now. So, up was out of the question, they were already at the top of a tower and magic did not include flight at the present. Down meant going back into the main castle and the shaken up masses. Perhaps somewhere the angel had already checked, one of the lower dorms if they could sneak past. Alex would be worthless for that though. Perhaps she had a safe place for herself?

Annalee holds out a hand to Alex, her cut bleeding with hot blood, her shirt and skirt rumpled and out of place, legs exposed, skin bare. Her hand and her stance says without saying let's go together, I'll make it worth your while.

[Rolling to turn on Alex. Got a 12, so that's an 11 even with the -1. I get a string and can pick one of the three reactions.]

Alex clasps her hand to yours - rough and flaking, leaving your hand covered in black soot. She's unevenly hot - where the molten blood vessels are near the surface it burns, but the rest of her skin is like pebbles on sunny days. "Do not worry," she says fiercely. "I shall butcher any who learn of your failure here, and more - I shall gather all the hounds of the netherworld to hunt down the one who dared injured you. I shall wrench from their lips screams of apology so agonized that they will salve even your infinite anger. We shall hunt together."

Just the thing for 1am in the morning: A pledge to an unending and bloody vengeance hunt across worlds.

[TheAmishPirate]

Samael took his time to answer thisone. The look on Tim's face was too good and had to be savoured. It made up for all the crappyness of this evening so far.

"Yes," he said, honestly. Samael was not one to shy away from a lie when occasion called for it, but more often than not, he'd found, the truth was far more delicious than any lie.

"But perhaps you won't care."

Wait, but, one moment, why wouldn't he care about getting bit? Why would Samael say that so casually?!

Was this a thing? Is this a thing people did? Real people, a thing they did? How could there possibly be a soul out there who enjoyed getting stabbed in the neck?!

But the things you heard that night...

"Yes. Well. It hardly seems fair, does it?" He babbled, eyes flitting about the room. "Certain pain and possible death in return for a single night's sanctuary." Don't look at the vampire. Keep the danger in the periphery. "Surely you see it would be a poor deal for me." He hadn't pursued this. "I couldn't possibly..." This was all an accident, a terrible accident. He should leave. "It'd be foolish to..." The door was there. Start walking. "Surely..." Now! Move!

A hazy, dreaming fog rolled through his mind, and he leaned - ever so slightly - into Samael's touch.

No!!!

"Surely we can arrange a...a few nights more?"

[Anarion]

Alex clasps her hand to yours - rough and flaking, leaving your hand covered in black soot. She's unevenly hot - where the molten blood vessels are near the surface it burns, but the rest of her skin is like pebbles on sunny days. "Do not worry," she says fiercely. "I shall butcher any who learn of your failure here, and more - I shall gather all the hounds of the netherworld to hunt down the one who dared injured you. I shall wrench from their lips screams of apology so agonized that they will salve even your infinite anger. We shall hunt together."

Just the thing for 1am in the morning: A pledge to an unending and bloody vengeance hunt across worlds.

Does she even need sleep? This is an academy for monsters, so Annalee is considering the possibility right now that someone that is made of lava (her skin feels very nice, so warm and smooth) doesn't actually need sleep. It would explain so much, including her complete stupidity in the situation.

"This is a very wonderful offer. And I will appreciate it very much tomorrow. Right now, I am very much in need of sleep, perhaps you are not aware. My magic is good at curses and such, less good at sustaining me if I do not get proper rest. Perhaps you know a place?"

[Elanorin]

Wait, but, one moment, why wouldn't he care about getting bit? Why would Samael say that so casually?!

Was this a thing? Is this a thing people did? Real people, a thing they did? How could there possibly be a soul out there who enjoyed getting stabbed in the neck?!

But the things you heard that night...

"Yes. Well. It hardly seems fair, does it?" He babbled, eyes flitting about the room. "Certain pain and possible death in return for a single night's sanctuary." Don't look at the vampire. Keep the danger in the periphery. "Surely you see it would be a poor deal for me." He hadn't pursued this. "I couldn't possibly..." This was all an accident, a terrible accident. He should leave. "It'd be foolish to..." The door was there. Start walking. "Surely..." Now! Move!

A hazy, dreaming fog rolled through his mind, and he leaned - ever so slightly - into Samael's touch.

No!!!

"Surely we can arrange a...a few nights more?"

"Despite what may or may not be rumoured about me I am not unreasonable," Samael said, still with velvet voice and a hint of a smile.

"Two nights, then..."

He leaned a little closer to add, with a whisper in Tim's ear, "per bite."

[Raz_Fox]

[X]: SECOND BEST

“Does holy justice protect you from witchcraft?” Okay, you can do this, Elodie. You’re the most normal person. You’re super normal! You do gardening! You can fake being not magical and important. “If it does... you might be able to save me from that witch! My name’s Elodie, what’s yours?”

Whoops whoops what’s this? Hand holding GET! Now you have to put the sword away, because it’s super tough to hold a sword while walking and holding hands! Checkmate.

“Her name’s Annalee, and she is super mean. If you get on her bad side, she’ll cast weird spells and curses on you. She uses that as blackmail to make innocent people do her bidding! After what happened last time...” Lip wobble that’s only a little faked, snuggle closer. Gosh, isn’t it getting warm? “I didn’t dare get on her bad side! But you’ll protect me, right?”

Maybe she’ll open up a door while the ninja’s back is turned, bring her back, and let her beat up Annalee! Hehe, yeah. That’ll serve her right, and there’s no way to trace that back to Elodie! Foolproof.

But first, they should totally have some gal time on the beach! They might do some swimming, or play frisbee with one of those sharp frisbees attached to her belt, or even... maybe even truth or dare! <3

[Thanqol]

Does she even need sleep? This is an academy for monsters, so Annalee is considering the possibility right now that someone that is made of lava (her skin feels very nice, so warm and smooth) doesn't actually need sleep. It would explain so much, including her complete stupidity in the situation.

"This is a very wonderful offer. And I will appreciate it very much tomorrow. Right now, I am very much in need of sleep, perhaps you are not aware. My magic is good at curses and such, less good at sustaining me if I do not get proper rest. Perhaps you know a place?"

"I know just the place," said Alexstralia brightly.

Ten minutes later you're standing outside the door to Samael's room.

Samael - secrecy obviously isn't a sufficient method of hiding from the monstrous students of Sleepshy Rise. Sometimes you need to make examples. What kind of dire warnings do you leave on the way to your lair? What dark reputation is the demoness blithely disregarding as she pounds upon your door, ruining your dinner?

Timothy - you're just leaning into the embrace of a vampire when the door is struck by blow after blow, heavy and ominous like all your wicked deeds come home to roost. Who is the worst person it could possibly be? How did you learn to fear them?

Annalee - When was the last time you were alone with Samael? What was the best thing about it?


[X]: SECOND BEST

“Does holy justice protect you from witchcraft?” Okay, you can do this, Elodie. You’re the most normal person. You’re super normal! You do gardening! You can fake being not magical and important. “If it does... you might be able to save me from that witch! My name’s Elodie, what’s yours?”

Whoops whoops what’s this? Hand holding GET! Now you have to put the sword away, because it’s super tough to hold a sword while walking and holding hands! Checkmate.

“Her name’s Annalee, and she is super mean. If you get on her bad side, she’ll cast weird spells and curses on you. She uses that as blackmail to make innocent people do her bidding! After what happened last time...” Lip wobble that’s only a little faked, snuggle closer. Gosh, isn’t it getting warm? “I didn’t dare get on her bad side! But you’ll protect me, right?”

Maybe she’ll open up a door while the ninja’s back is turned, bring her back, and let her beat up Annalee! Hehe, yeah. That’ll serve her right, and there’s no way to trace that back to Elodie! Foolproof.

But first, they should totally have some gal time on the beach! They might do some swimming, or play frisbee with one of those sharp frisbees attached to her belt, or even... maybe even truth or dare! <3

It requires a certain conviction to be a demon hunter; the ability to trust in your senses despite sweet words and distracting touches. It requires the cold, iron will to trust that what you see is real and that your memories are true. But it was nowhere near as flashy as the nunchuck lessons so Carmen had packed all those courses into her final year of training. Accordingly, convincing herself that it was the evil sorceress Annalee and not cute, bubbly Elodie who had cast the portal spell was easier than it should have been.

"My name is Carmen Rakam, Aspiring Vigilant of the Ordos Nocturne and I swear to you," said Carmen - not making poorly thought through oaths, also a 4th year lesson - "I will find a way to get you home, and put an end to this dark sorceress that she might never harm you again."

She wished she could give this speech from a windowsill or a rooftop or something cool and shadowy, it somehow didn't have the same menace from a sunny beach.

[Raz_Fox]

[X]: SECOND BEST

“The Ordos Nocturne,” the vampire said, shuddering. “I thought nothing of them. You must understand their folly, yes?”

A sweep of his corpse-white hand, encompassing the castle. “To challenge me, here, in my sanctum sanctorum? On my own unhallowed ground? Where, with a wave of my hand, a dozen ghastly specters would issue forth from the ghastly pits of hell, shrieking and jangling their chains? Where my blood flows through the very stones you see around you? Here, I am— was— a god, my friend.”

“And yet, to avenge some paltry wrong, a family member left hollow by my thirst, or a village eclipsed by my shadow, the Ordos Nocturne swore vengeance. And they sent a Vigilant. One!”

“And now, I am here. My ashes, scattered to the winds. My dark enchantments, unwoven and undone. My brides freed, my larders emptied, and my heart pierced by that dreadful stake. My friend, if it is at all possible to kill you, then know that the Ordos Nocturne would find a way.”

The reaper stood in solemn silence, perhaps to honor the vast age of the vampire lord, perhaps considering the prophecy uttered. And, in the stillness, there came a tugging on his robe.

“Daddy, his beard is stupid and smelly. I wanna go home.”

***

The best thing about being clingy is that it’s harder for Carmen to notice Elodie’s thousand-yard stare off into the distance. This is. This is so bad. This is the worst possible thing.

Oh hey it’s the ocean!

“H-hey, Carmen,” Elodie says with the most natural voice in the world despite her suddenly dry throat, “wanna go s-swimming?” This isn’t a plan. This is no plan. This is a Hail Mary.

[Anarion]

Annalee - When was the last time you were alone with Samael? What was the best thing about it?


It has been a while, I think. There was the time not long after I started at Sleepshy, but I fled that one foolishly. A lesson in after class safety and in not knowing who in the school was valuable yet. But the most recent time, I think it would have been at the end of the student council meeting, not all that long ago, a week or two perhaps? You know how time is always flying. Samael stayed to put things away, he is very senior so of course he would assist with such matters and I offered to help.

The best thing about it? There are so many things, but the best thing is how much Samael knows. He's got so much experience with the academy, and he keeps tabs on everyone. It's the perfect compliment to my powers. And he is such a gentleman and a man of business, always willing to negotiate over these things. I have all sorts of tokens and offerings to make, and my ways of acquiring information, not to mention my blood should it come to that. I'm really not squeamish about that sort of trade, when the price is fair.

[Elanorin]

Samael - secrecy obviously isn't a sufficient method of hiding from the monstrous students of Sleepshy Rise. Sometimes you need to make examples. What kind of dire warnings do you leave on the way to your lair? What dark reputation is the demoness blithely disregarding as she pounds upon your door, ruining your dinner?

Be around as long as I have and you need little by way of dire warnings. Whether you are referring to my bedroom, the one opposite Timmy's, or this tall spire hiding spot we're in right now which used to be secret, it's all the same - on the door is just my name. Tim must have missed it in his blind panic as he barged through the door. Anyone who knows what's good for them knows that name and, more importantly, who does the markings of their papers and takes down their class attendance. They say student (and indeed teacher) life can be made very difficult by one who holds access to those regardless of what they seek to achieve here.

If my name is not enough, the sign in sheet posted on my bedroom door for the only class that I run myself seems to do the trick.


Tuition Of Rehabilitation Through Understanding Repetitive Exercise

Time: Midnight - 2am
Days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
Location: The gym
Credits: 0

________________ _______________

________________ _______________

________________ _______________

________________ _______________

________________ _______________

________________ _______________

________________ _______________

It's a simple A4 piece of paper stuck to the door with a piece of cellotape. It has no pen. The best way of getting your name on that list is barging in to... anywhere not invited. Us vampires are... particular about invitations. It has no names on it yet, but the term has only just started. This is a class that anyone can 'join' at any time. It offers no credits but it is headmaster-endorsed. So there is that.

*

Samael's face plainly shows his irritation at being disturbed, it was obvious that Tim was about to cave, he had him right where he wanted him and he was thirsty. While you don't necessarily need their consent, it does make the whole thing a lot easier. Besides, he hadn't escaped noticing the odd not-so-sneaky glance through their opposite windows and he needed to put this little human in his place. Which is harder to do when being interrupted. For now, hoping Timmy's breaking point is imminent, Samael chooses to ignore the pounding on the door. He'd have to deal with it soon, but he'd much prefer to handle it after this little arrangement had been sealed.

[TheAmishPirate]

Timothy - you're just leaning into the embrace of a vampire when the door is struck by blow after blow, heavy and ominous like all your wicked deeds come home to roost. Who is the worst person it could possibly be? How did you learn to fear them?

G'eldriia Despana

She of the Thousand Silk Threads

Patient Hunter, Swift Striker, Merciless Biter

and Captain of the Quiz Bowl Team.

(Her friends call her Dria.)

Had you seen the look in all of her eyes when she learned Timothy was just a common mortal from Earth, you would fear her too. What an ace he would make on the circuit! Who better to tackle all those pesky, morti-cultural questions than a mortal? With him on the team, they would be unstoppable! Undefeated! Legends!

And that is precisely the sort of thing Timothy would like to avoid at all costs. It's bad enough trying to get by unnoticed in a school literally full of monsters born and bred to hunt humans. Can you imagine how hard it'd be on stage? With his face in the school paper? No no no no no, none for him, no thank you, hard pass. That he's avoided her webs so far is nothing short of a miracle, but in his heart, he knows it's only a matter of time before she tracks him down again...


"Despite what may or may not be rumoured about me I am not unreasonable," Samael said, still with velvet voice and a hint of a smile.

"Two nights, then..."

He leaned a little closer to add, with a whisper in Tim's ear, "per bite."


Samael's face plainly shows his irritation at being disturbed, it was obvious that Tim was about to cave, he had him right where he wanted him and he was thirsty. While you don't necessarily need their consent, it does make the whole thing a lot easier. Besides, he hadn't escaped noticing the odd not-so-sneaky glance through their opposite windows and he needed to put this little human in his place. Which is harder to do when being interrupted. For now, hoping Timmy's breaking point is imminent, Samael chooses to ignore the pounding on the door. He'd have to deal with it soon, but he'd much prefer to handle it after this little arrangement had been sealed.

...and it is for that reason - among others - that Timothy was unable to so easily ignore the intrusion.

His head whipped about to the door, and he involuntarily jerked away from Samael. "Oh heavens, oh mercy, oh no..." He hugged his bundled blankets for comfort, and found none. "She couldn't have found me here. It's impossible. Ludicrous. Inconcievable." He babbled under his breath, perhaps a little louder than he intended to. And as the new fear barged in, the old made itself known anew. He was in a room with Samael. One door that he knew of. All alone. Only, not alone anymore. What could this mean for him, and his terrible, horrible, no-good very bad night?

But Timothy would not be allowed to reach a conclusion so easily. The whole thing rested on a knife's edge, and perhaps if he had been truly alone he could've sorted things out himself. (Then again, if he were truly alone, there would be nothing to sort out, would there?) But he was alone with a vampire; a creature of subtle ways, to whom mortal terror was simply another tool in his belt.

The question, then, was how Samael would choose to wield it.

[Thanqol]

The best thing about being clingy is that it’s harder for Carmen to notice Elodie’s thousand-yard stare off into the distance. This is. This is so bad. This is the worst possible thing.

Oh hey it’s the ocean!

“H-hey, Carmen,” Elodie says with the most natural voice in the world despite her suddenly dry throat, “wanna go s-swimming?” This isn’t a plan. This is no plan. This is a Hail Mary.

Carmen looked down at her outfit - leather, knives, parchment, knives, purity seals, knives, blood runes, and swords. Her expression said, 'I am a professional obviously discounting this plan because I am a very serious assassin with a mission to do', but her brain was saying 'if this cute girl finds out that I am wearing Mormon full body underwear right now then I will actually die'.

"We are in a perilous supernatural environment with danger lurking behind every tree and shadow," said Carmen. "No doubt this is some sphere of the Darkling Lands where the Witch intended to dispose of us. Don't worry - I have been trained for this. I promise to keep you safe and slay whatever monster dwells at the heart of this evil realm."

*

INTERLUDE SCENE

Every so often, just knowing your way around the modern world is a huge advantage in Sleepshy Rise. Timothy's understanding of basics like 'how a microwave works' makes him a high demand partner for group projects. Sometimes he says things that surprise even the angel!

Unfortunately for Timothy, sometimes the angel issues assignments that surprise you.

The scalpel hovers in your hands over the casing to the sea mine.

"This week's research assignment will be to vivisect this Battleship Egg and write a report on the contents."

Two girls are looking over your shoulder impatiently.

How are you with 1920's Italian explosives?

[TheAmishPirate]

How are you with 1920's Italian explosives?

Quite well, by the looks of things! See how still he holds the knife, without so much as a twitch of extraneous motion. See the focus on the task before him, as if the world were empty save for man and egg. See the color drain from his cheeks, definitely to provide his fingers that extra touch of circulation and dexterity. Here stands the expert upon the precipice of his craft. When invisible instinct dictates, he will produce his masterpiece.

For the moment, we wait.

“Out of the purest curiosity,” He asked, and with such calm! Even knowing how much of their grade rested on a successful dissection. In every respect, the right man for the job. “Have either of you ever heard of a student who completed this assignment sans dismemberment?”

[Anarion]

Quite well, by the looks of things! See how still he holds the knife, without so much as a twitch of extraneous motion. See the focus on the task before him, as if the world were empty save for man and egg. See the color drain from his cheeks, definitely to provide his fingers that extra touch of circulation and dexterity. Here stands the expert upon the precipice of his craft. When invisible instinct dictates, he will produce his masterpiece.

For the moment, we wait.

“Out of the purest curiosity,” He asked, and with such calm! Even knowing how much of their grade rested on a successful dissection. In every respect, the right man for the job. “Have either of you ever heard of a student who completed this assignment sans dismemberment?”

"I did not ask. But I am fully confident in you Timmy." Annalee looks like she'd reach out and ruffle your hair, but is not doing that out of respect for your current work as a master mine dissector. "Also, if there is an explosion, we will have Elodie here open a portal so that the shrapnel does not ruin your hair." Annalee looked at Elodie expectantly because of course she would handle this at Annalee's command.

[Raz_Fox]

[X]: SECOND BEST

“Portal?” Elodie is flabbergasted! Shocked, I tell you, absolutely shocked! “Now, hold up, Annalee, I don’t see any portals within knocking distance, unless you mean to tell me you’ve got a door stuffed down your pants.” It would explain the size, she doesn’t go on to say. A portal is a portal, you know, a door to pass through, you can’t just go ooooogly boooogly and make one appear in midair!

“Anyway, this totally isn’t safe,” she goes on. “Do you know how many people get killed gruesomely by these things every year? Nine hundred and seventy-three and a half. If this goes off, the Angel is gonna have to scrape bits of Timmy off the walls!”

Which is a totally normal and cool and helpful thing to say in a situation like this.

[Anarion]

[X]: SECOND BEST

“Portal?” Elodie is flabbergasted! Shocked, I tell you, absolutely shocked! “Now, hold up, Annalee, I don’t see any portals within knocking distance, unless you mean to tell me you’ve got a door stuffed down your pants.” It would explain the size, she doesn’t go on to say. A portal is a portal, you know, a door to pass through, you can’t just go ooooogly boooogly and make one appear in midair!

“Anyway, this totally isn’t safe,” she goes on. “Do you know how many people get killed gruesomely by these things every year? Nine hundred and seventy-three and a half. If this goes off, the Angel is gonna have to scrape bits of Timmy off the walls!”

Which is a totally normal and cool and helpful thing to say in a situation like this.

"And a half? Now I'm curious, you really can't dangle that sort of thing in the air and then let it drop. How does one get a half, hm? Are they brought back?" She looks over at Tim, who is definitely not getting distracted. "Also, doesn't that number mean this activity is much safer than driving or walking up and down stairs?"
Unsaid on Annalee's part of course is the percentage of people doing mine dissection work that get injured compared to the stair walkers.

[TheAmishPirate]

"I did not ask. But I am fully confident in you Timmy." Annalee looks like she'd reach out and ruffle your hair, but is not doing that out of respect for your current work as a master mine dissector. "Also, if there is an explosion, we will have Elodie here open a portal so that the shrapnel does not ruin your hair." Annalee looked at Elodie expectantly because of course she would handle this at Annalee's command.


[X]: SECOND BEST

“Portal?” Elodie is flabbergasted! Shocked, I tell you, absolutely shocked! “Now, hold up, Annalee, I don’t see any portals within knocking distance, unless you mean to tell me you’ve got a door stuffed down your pants.” It would explain the size, she doesn’t go on to say. A portal is a portal, you know, a door to pass through, you can’t just go ooooogly boooogly and make one appear in midair!

“Anyway, this totally isn’t safe,” she goes on. “Do you know how many people get killed gruesomely by these things every year? Nine hundred and seventy-three and a half. If this goes off, the Angel is gonna have to scrape bits of Timmy off the walls!”

Which is a totally normal and cool and helpful thing to say in a situation like this.

Ah, cruel hope. Why do you mock our Timothy? What did he ever do to you?

"'If' it goes off? Do you mean to tell me that in this realm, medical scalpels," he held up his pitiful instrument. "Can bet the better of 20th century steel? Back home, I remember it working quite the opposite!"


"And a half? Now I'm curious, you really can't dangle that sort of thing in the air and then let it drop. How does one get a half, hm? Are they brought back?" She looks over at Tim, who is definitely not getting distracted. "Also, doesn't that number mean this activity is much safer than driving or walking up and down stairs?"
Unsaid on Annalee's part of course is the percentage of people doing mine dissection work that get injured compared to the stair walkers.

Timothy goggled in a most unhelpful manner. "It isn't the slightest bit safer! By orders of magnitude! If we had the benefit of professional equipment, twenty year's experience apiece, and a hearty breakfast, I'd still rather chance the stairs!"

Somehow, someway, their chief expert had lost the nerve for the work, and - rather than help them earn a passing grade - selfishly busied himself with wishing for all the places he'd rather be than this soon-to-be-blasted room. (It was a long list. It could take him some time.)

[Anarion]

"'If' it goes off? Do you mean to tell me that in this realm, medical scalpels," he held up his pitiful instrument. "Can bet the better of 20th century steel? Back home, I remember it working quite the opposite!"


"You are undoing rusty old screws on a device flood with seawater and practically fused shut with pressure. Just try not to hit any of the springs and we will be fine. Or give me the screw driver and I'll do it."

Timothy was new, so he obviously did not understand very well. Risk of death was very much preferable to failing an assignment. Remedial classes were a time-consuming torture even where Samael was not involved.

[TheAmishPirate]

"You are undoing rusty old screws on a device flood with seawater and practically fused shut with pressure. Just try not to hit any of the springs and we will be fine. Or give me the screw driver and I'll do it."

Timothy was new, so he obviously did not understand very well. Risk of death was very much preferable to failing an assignment. Remedial classes were a time-consuming torture even where Samael was not involved.

Timothy looked at her as if she'd started speaking in tongues. (Was he supposed to know what people said when they did that? Question for later.) "Annie. I didn't think you had such a capacity for optimism." He gave a meaningful look to the scalpel in his hand, which certainly had not transmogrified into a screwdriver since he last saw it. "Mind, I'd really rather trade it out for actual knowledge of decades-old mine technology, but, well, good to know they haven't broken your spirit."

"Here's a better plan: We stall for time, claim nerves got the better of us, and pray that extra credit carries us over the finish line. I like that plan. That plan doesn't involve dying today."

"...well, dying in the next few minutes, at least."

[I think that this falls onto other side of the Shut Someone Down border, so I'ma roll it: 3 + 3 + 1 = 7 Going to go with the somewhat unintentional Condition Ignorant]

[Anarion]

IGNORANT



[I think that this falls onto other side of the Shut Someone Down border, so I'ma roll it: 3 + 3 + 1 = 7 Going to go with the somewhat unintentional Condition Ignorant]

Take in return the condition, CHICKEN. Which is what you are Timothy.

"Really, me ignorant? You'll never learn anything if you are afraid of getting your hands dirty, little boy. Goodness." Annalee takes a screwdriver from a nearby desk and shoves you rudely out of the way so that she can inspect one of the rusted mine panels. Someday you'll get it Tim, but death is not even close to the worst thing that happens here.

[Thanqol]

IGNORANT

Take in return the condition, CHICKEN. Which is what you are Timothy.

"Really, me ignorant? You'll never learn anything if you are afraid of getting your hands dirty, little boy. Goodness." Annalee takes a screwdriver from a nearby desk and shoves you rudely out of the way so that she can inspect one of the rusted mine panels. Someday you'll get it Tim, but death is not even close to the worst thing that happens here.

So Elodie, there's a death about to be happening right here. Really quite a few deaths. Death may not be the worst thing to happen here but with Annalee holding that screwdriver it's definitely going to be a thing that happens here.

What is the imminent sensation of death like to you? What voices, signals, markings, or omens speak to you in this moment? How does the grim business make you feel? Tell me, and then gaze into the abyss. Then - after that - perhaps you might want to take action to avert it.

[Raz_Fox]

[X]: SECOND BEST

Okay, so, you know that feeling when you realize that there’s something you were going to do a few minutes ago, and you forgot it, and it just popped back up in your brain, and you kinda focus on just “oh right I have to do that thing” for a minute? It’s kinda like that, knowing that death’s about to happen. Like it’s important that I be here to help them up and get them going on their way. Also the colors kind of go all washed out and bleak and if I let myself lean into that everybody’s voices get a little more distant, because my body wants me to be on the other side waiting and ready for them.

[8 on Abyss Gazing.]

Right now, what I’m looking for—

I want to see a way to make Timmy see me. Give that to me, at least, veil between this world and the next. How do I get him to pay attention to me?

Also I am grabbing his hand and booking it as Annalee probes that mine with the screwdriver, because, uh, she kinda deserves it. There is one (1) person I’m down to save right now, and I have him by his oh-so-handy wrist.

[10 on Run Away. I would like to take Timmy with me, since I’m not “leaving something behind.”]

[Anarion]

The bomb exploded. Elodie was already dashing off, carrying Timothy with her. Which was the sort of thing a traitor does when they don't want to teach a new student a valuable lesson about the importance of death and its place in the universe. Annalee was already determined that the next time she saw Elodie, she'd take full advantage of her for this. And with that not at all vindictive last thought, Annalee was engulfed in a small fireball that took out the nearby table and singed Timothy's socks and the fringes of his shirt even as Elodie was beating a hasty retreat.

Annalee was not a frequent visitor to the realm of death, though this also wasn't her first trip either. She'd had a protected one with Baba Sokolov, and she'd died one time at the academy before this when they'd all been practicing at being surgeons, she'd gotten a little overzealous with a wolf-girl, and had her throat clawed out (which in fairness had really been a reflex, she could hardly blame the girl). This experience was much more miserable. She could feel part of the flesh melt off of her face as the bomb hit her and there was a moment of agonizing pain, an attempt to scream that was met with a rush of heat that made her voice die and her lungs sear, and only then did she black out from the blunt force trauma of the explosion.

Being dead was...hazy sort of? Kind of gray? Kind of heavy? You were floating, but it was still heavy and it gave the feeling that your heart had turned to stone and that you couldn't quite remember where you were. Annalee hated that last part. It felt like being lost in a big city or out camping, that sort of sinking feeling that you didn't know which way to go. But you also didn't know which way you wanted to go or how you'd gotten yourself into it, so it created a sort of existential dread about trying to do really anything at all. It was easier the second time though, after that first death, and with no anchor to speak of, Annalee's ghost mind had started to panic in a really instinctual way that made it willing to follow nearly anything or anyone that showed up and told her where to go. Which, come to think of it, was probably the way that the Grim Reaper wanted it because it made compliance much easier. Annalee guessed that if you became a vengeful ghost, your vengeance would end up being like a beacon guiding you towards it, but she didn't feel strongly enough towards the werewolf last time to make that happen.

This time, well, it still felt pretty terrible (and no she wasn't angry enough at Elodie to become a vengeful spirit) but she was sort of ready for it, so she tried to stay very still and bask in the silence. You didn't get silence like this often, no breaths or heartbeat at all, the rest of the world distant and separate. No need to move, no body parts falling asleep (or maybe all of them already asleep). That was an experience to savor. Which is why this time, Death found her sitting in a contented zen stance floating a few meters off the ground.

He sighed first, which made her open her eyes and look at him. He was very personable, Elodie's father. Or maybe he just appeared to witches that way? Silver hair, longer than most men almost down to his shoulders. A square face, complemented by a neatly trimmed silver beard to match his hair. His eyes, well, they were dark, a distant black void of nothingness, entirely empty, but that didn't stop him from gazing right at you. He wore a Hawaiian shirt today (he'd done the all in black routine last time). It wasn't as colorful as Elodie's clothing, but it was a brighter grey than the surrounds with hints of blue to it in the sickles and skulls that made up the pattern. He did have black jeans on though, and a thin copper chain about his neck with another in his side pocket, which was the most colorful thing about him. He also wore really nice, expensive-looking shoes with a Mephisto label on them.

He was sighing though. "Second death in as many years, I see" he said, with the manner of someone that couldn't be bothered to put on the full show for a repeat audience. "Now see, this is why my daughter needs to finish her schooling and come help with the family business. None of this running off and trying to raise living things that she does. I need a day off now and then, and people like you are easy cases to get returned, so I'm sure Elly could do it." He sighs again and pulls out a tablet. "Alright, let's see how you died then." He watches the video, looks concerned. "Really? An old mine? And you tried to set it off with my daughter nearby. Be careful young lady. I have an agreement with the master of this castle, so I'll be returning you intact and healthy to your room presently, but if you hurt one hair on her head, I'll see to it that your afterlife is exceptionally unpleasant."

With that, he took Annalee's hand and they...whisked off somewhere else where he laid her down on what turned out to be a bed that seemed incredibly soft and left her to wake from an only slightly magical sleep.

[TheAmishPirate]

Take in return the condition, CHICKEN. Which is what you are Timothy.

"Really, me ignorant? You'll never learn anything if you are afraid of getting your hands dirty, little boy. Goodness." Annalee takes a screwdriver from a nearby desk and shoves you rudely out of the way so that she can inspect one of the rusted mine panels. Someday you'll get it Tim, but death is not even close to the worst thing that happens here.

Gladly! Guilty as charged. Lock him up in the chicken coop, far away from here.

"It's not dirty hands I'm afraid of." Timothy bit his lip. "Just...be careful. Please? Let me know if you need me for anything, and otherwise..."

He screwed his eyes tight.

"At least this way, death gets to be a surprise," he muttered. Which was precisely the moment that death grabbed his wrist and yanked him out of the room before he could so much as yelp.


[8 on Abyss Gazing.]

Right now, what I’m looking for—

I want to see a way to make Timmy see me. Give that to me, at least, veil between this world and the next. How do I get him to pay attention to me?

There is no “where” or “when” in Death. These are mortal constructs, and there is no need for them here. Death comes within, without, beyond, beside, before, too soon, too late, anytime, anywhere, everywhere, to everyone. The veil is the veil. The other side always beckons. To be noticed, but never looked through. Except you, of course. You’re family. Here you stand, on the barest edge beyond the beyond, the eternal present before you, and what do you see? What do you seek?

Timothy Oglevee Crompton, of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons.

Yes, yes, him. Always him. Always him, scared half to death and staring at death, as if awareness of his end might somehow stave it off. Does it hurt, always looking into his eyes from the other side, and knowing he doesn’t see you? That he can never see you? One step closer, one little finger outstretched to him, and poof! Away he goes, and away you go. Back to the mortal world. Back to no Timothy.

Come back, Elodie. Come back, Daughter of the Veil. Give it up. Do you honestly think you could ever give him what he longs for? You are Death. Your place is oblivion, and your destiny is the void. What do you know of home? What do you know of the domesticated life? What do you know of quiet coffee after a hard day’s work, of fresh scones on a rainy day, of gardens, of taxes, of tidying up, of dancing, of reading, of the steady comforts and struggles that poor Timothy clings to in his heart of hearts?! You will never be able to provide such things, and he will never accept them from you. Not while you stand ready to usher his soul away like a total weirdo when he dies.

Unless….

No.

You wouldn’t.

You wouldn’t dare stand between him and the other side. Did not your Father warn you?! Did he not tell you - in great, excruciating detail - what might happen if you played favorites? If you protected some mortal from their doom? Think, Daughter! For a moment, for all that is good and holy and right in the worlds, think! Forget that whenever he’d look to the Veil he’d see you instead. Forget that you’d finally be able to look into each other’s eyes. Forget how easy it’d be to reach out and take him by the hand and kiss his face until all his thoughts are of you. Forget it all! Do this thing, and there’s no telling what disaster you’d unleash onto the world! The rules are there for a reason! Many reasons! And all of them good! If you would just stop and listen


The bomb exploded. Elodie was already dashing off, carrying Timothy with her. Which was the sort of thing a traitor does when they don't want to teach a new student a valuable lesson about the importance of death and its place in the universe. Annalee was already determined that the next time she saw Elodie, she'd take full advantage of her for this. And with that not at all vindictive last thought, Annalee was engulfed in a small fireball that took out the nearby table and singed Timothy's socks and the fringes of his shirt even as Elodie was beating a hasty retreat.

Ball's in your court, Elodie. Where do you do? Where do you take Timothy?

[Raz_Fox]

[X]: SECOND BEST

Haha, okay, well, definitely away! Away from the explosion, away from that weight on her heart that’s all heavy and calling her to make a choice about what she wants and who she wants, because, blech, that’s way too much responsibility for right now. She hasn’t even seen a sixth part of all the places she wants to see, or had a tenth part of the experiences she wants to have. Away, dragging Timmy in her wake, up staircases and down passageways and through dressing-rooms and along balconies and across the opera stage on the third floor, and the doors are opening on rooms they don’t normally do because it’s Elodie who’s flinging them open, and it’s only when Timmy bangs his shins in the headlong flight and does that whirlwinding flail of limbs as he tries not to fall flat on his face that she even thinks about stopping.

So they come to a tangle-up sweat-heaving stop in the tropical heat of the conservatory/tarantula habitat.

“Y-you all right there, Timmy?” Elodie asks, trying to play off how she totally freaked out there. She pushes her hair back over her ear self-consciously and gives him a goofy little smile, even as she sits down in a tarantula apartment complex. Awwww, look at ‘em! They’re so fuzzy! That one’s eating a pigeon!

[The dice frown upon me and my tarantulas. 5 on Turning Timmy On.]

[Thanqol]

With that, he took Annalee's hand and they...whisked off somewhere else where he laid her down on what turned out to be a bed that seemed incredibly soft and left her to wake from an only slightly magical sleep.

"Two out of three rules broken in a single exam, along with destroying a valuable battleship egg, a dozen students, and the Newtop Tower," said the pleasant and mild voice of Mr. Burke. Imagine a Welsh pastor who's pleasantly surprised you popped in for an unexpected tea and biscuit. He's dressed like that too.

He has with him two heavy buckets filled with some of the aformentioned students.

"Well, not to fret, there's a bright side for everything!" said Mr. Burke. "You could think of it like you made a mistake and are being punished, or," he set the buckets down next to your bed, "you could think of it like you're helping out your good friend with a bothersome job, isn't it?"

There's only one punishment that Mr. Burke hands out, and it's the worst one in the entire school.

You're going to have to feed the angel.


So they come to a tangle-up sweat-heaving stop in the tropical heat of the conservatory/tarantula habitat.

“Y-you all right there, Timmy?” Elodie asks, trying to play off how she totally freaked out there. She pushes her hair back over her ear self-consciously and gives him a goofy little smile, even as she sits down in a tarantula apartment complex. Awwww, look at ‘em! They’re so fuzzy! That one’s eating a pigeon!

[The dice frown upon me and my tarantulas. 5 on Turning Timmy On.]

Oh gee they are cute, aren't they? And oh wow, it was really cunning of them to cover that chair with webs, wasn't it? That's pretty sneaky, Mrs. Gumbottles! And, uh, also, you're kind of stuck. Wuh oh.

Tim, Timothy, Tim-Tim Crompton. I think this is a fairly straight up and down problem. Are you going to go and start plunging your hands into thick, sticky spider webs and potentially get aforementioned spiders all over your body in order to heroically rescue this beautiful damsel? It'll be Keeping Your Cool if you are. Part of the move requires you to name what you're afraid of, so do that while you're at it.

And that's obviously what you'll do, because to not do that would be unthinkable, surely?

[TheAmishPirate]

Oh gee they are cute, aren't they? And oh wow, it was really cunning of them to cover that chair with webs, wasn't it? That's pretty sneaky, Mrs. Gumbottles! And, uh, also, you're kind of stuck. Wuh oh.

Tim, Timothy, Tim-Tim Crompton. I think this is a fairly straight up and down problem. Are you going to go and start plunging your hands into thick, sticky spider webs and potentially get aforementioned spiders all over your body in order to heroically rescue this beautiful damsel? It'll be Keeping Your Cool if you are. Part of the move requires you to name what you're afraid of, so do that while you're at it.

And that's obviously what you'll do, because to not do that would be unthinkable, surely?

Of course! Why would you suggest such a thing? After all, what is Tim most afraid of here?

Death.

No, not, like, dying. Death. The Grim Reaper. Father of the student currently stuck in a mess of tarantula webs. Consider for a moment the future in which Timothy pulls off a brave rescue, but perishes in a terrible tarantula tragedy.

“Well, m’boy, you failed at the last hurdle there, but you saved my daughter from minor inconvenience in the process. Not bad, not bad. Here; have a spot of tea while you wait, we’ll have you back shortly.”

Now, consider the future where he leaves Elodie to her gross fate. Or worse, he goes to dig her out, lifts her up in his arms, they get stuck together, an embarrassing cross-campus march to the nurse’s office ensues, a horde of gossiping peers spots them, and a firestorm of wild rumors consumes the school; the mortal who dared to brazenly canoodle Death’s Daughter.

“……”

Terrible. Just terrible. Unspeakable anger, followed by unspeakable retribution, for which death itself would offer no respite. This is no mere sticky web he’s landed in. It’s a minefield. Suspended in a sticky web. There was only one thing to do in a time like this:

“Now - alright, hold still - I’ve got my ascot by your left hand, can you reach back and - Left! Left hand! - grab it, and I’ll just, erghh, pull you free, once it’s just - no, hold on, it’s slipped loose again, let me try again -“

Waffle.

Waffle for his life.

[Raz_Fox]

[X]: SECOND BEST

Sigh. This is really quite unattractive, you know, Timmy. Any strapping young man worth his salt should be an animal lover! Tarantulas are a vital part of the animal kingdom, taking care of all kinds of pests, and they’re all fuzzy and cute and really, they’re just webbing Elodie up because they don’t know what to do with somebody who blundered right into their web! The odds of Timmy being eaten by a Giant Tezcatlipoca Deercatcher are pretty slim, when you think about it!!

(Which is to say, it’s usually on the other side of the greenhouse at this time of day.)

“Go get the garden shears,” Elodie says, winsomely, patiently, “and don’t hurt them! They’re just doing their jobs, aren’t you, little guys?” She nuzzles the one sitting on her shoulder with her cheek. “Yes you are! Ooooh, yes you are!”

[Anarion]

"Two out of three rules broken in a single exam, along with destroying a valuable battleship egg, a dozen students, and the Newtop Tower," said the pleasant and mild voice of Mr. Burke. Imagine a Welsh pastor who's pleasantly surprised you popped in for an unexpected tea and biscuit. He's dressed like that too.

He has with him two heavy buckets filled with some of the aformentioned students.

"Well, not to fret, there's a bright side for everything!" said Mr. Burke. "You could think of it like you made a mistake and are being punished, or," he set the buckets down next to your bed, "you could think of it like you're helping out your good friend with a bothersome job, isn't it?"

There's only one punishment that Mr. Burke hands out, and it's the worst one in the entire school.

You're going to have to feed the angel.


Going to be honest with you here, Annalee's got no clue on this one. Everybody avoids the angel, and last time it wasn't exactly her fault, so she didn't get a major punishment. Death would drop her back asleep though, way to fulfill the exact letter of his contract while making things especially miserable for her.

Maybe she could get something out of this? Annalee looks at the buckets that Burke handed her, doesn't say anything to him, gives one a little shake to stir it, see what sort of consistency she's dealing with (it's different than her now very much living self, right? Surely Death wouldn't have to double back for her). She shoulders her buckets silently, without a word to Burke and makes he way where she's supposed to go.

So...what should she have heard about the "Angel" anyway?

[Thanqol]

[X]: SECOND BEST

Sigh. This is really quite unattractive, you know, Timmy. Any strapping young man worth his salt should be an animal lover! Tarantulas are a vital part of the animal kingdom, taking care of all kinds of pests, and they’re all fuzzy and cute and really, they’re just webbing Elodie up because they don’t know what to do with somebody who blundered right into their web! The odds of Timmy being eaten by a Giant Tezcatlipoca Deercatcher are pretty slim, when you think about it!!

(Which is to say, it’s usually on the other side of the greenhouse at this time of day.)

“Go get the garden shears,” Elodie says, winsomely, patiently, “and don’t hurt them! They’re just doing their jobs, aren’t you, little guys?” She nuzzles the one sitting on her shoulder with her cheek. “Yes you are! Ooooh, yes you are!”

They are indeed super cute and just doing their jobs, but the quickness with which they're starting to set up for the gag webbing makes you think that somebody has been training them to tie up random girls for some sort of nefarious purpose. Who would do such a thing? Who would see a cute, innocent giant tarantula and have their first thought turn to their use in bondage? This is only partially rhetorical, please tell me about them Elodie.


Going to be honest with you here, Annalee's got no clue on this one. Everybody avoids the angel, and last time it wasn't exactly her fault, so she didn't get a major punishment. Death would drop her back asleep though, way to fulfill the exact letter of his contract while making things especially miserable for her.

Maybe she could get something out of this? Annalee looks at the buckets that Burke handed her, doesn't say anything to him, gives one a little shake to stir it, see what sort of consistency she's dealing with (it's different than her now very much living self, right? Surely Death wouldn't have to double back for her). She shoulders her buckets silently, without a word to Burke and makes he way where she's supposed to go.

So...what should she have heard about the "Angel" anyway?

Oh, aha, ah, um, there's a reason why we don't capitalize 'angel' there dearie. He's not the sort of creature anyone would feel comfortable calling an Angel but you wouldn't exactly want to offend him by implying that he's not, either.

I am hesitating here purely because I do not know how to delicately answer your question. I could answer it in a lot of ways - viscerally, violently, suddenly, invasively, transgressively - but I don't really know which of those you deserve. So why not Gaze into the Abyss a little, and tell me while you're at it tell me a bit about the broken and fearful parts of your soul.

[Raz_Fox]

[X]: SECOND BEST

Are you kidding? There’s only one person who would have such a close bond with her spidery kin, such nefarious plots, and a need for damsels in distress! G'eldriia Despana!!

And before you butt in and say that she can spin her own webs, why do you think mortals domesticated dogs, when they too can run down prey and bite? Dria has got classes to study for, quiz team meets to plan, and that’s without including cheer practice in the mix. She can’t take the time to swaddle up prizes in her webs personally! (“Behind one of these three doors is Elodie Faucher! But behind one is a swarm of killer bees! If you pick one and I open one of the doors that does not have either, should you change your answer?”) Train a pack of tarantulas to kidnap girls, and then all you have to do is check the webs daily, and then either offer them a spot on the team or use them as grand prizes in practice. It’s ingenious!

But that also means Timmy’s in terrible danger of being pressganged into the quiz bowl team! He’d never have time to hang out with her if that happened! After all, she’s still just second best... which means he has to get out of here immediately!

Now, if only Elodie had figured that out before the tarantulas had smeared webbing all over her mouth. She’d have to use head motions and very insistent grunts to warn him of the terrible danger he was in, and how he needed to leave now, and not risk getting stuck!!

I mean, Timmy’s super smart and wouldn’t just assume she’s panicking and blunder right into the webs, right? Right??

[TheAmishPirate]

[X]: SECOND BEST

Sigh. This is really quite unattractive, you know, Timmy. Any strapping young man worth his salt should be an animal lover! Tarantulas are a vital part of the animal kingdom, taking care of all kinds of pests, and they’re all fuzzy and cute and really, they’re just webbing Elodie up because they don’t know what to do with somebody who blundered right into their web! The odds of Timmy being eaten by a Giant Tezcatlipoca Deercatcher are pretty slim, when you think about it!!

(Which is to say, it’s usually on the other side of the greenhouse at this time of day.)

“Go get the garden shears,” Elodie says, winsomely, patiently, “and don’t hurt them! They’re just doing their jobs, aren’t you, little guys?” She nuzzles the one sitting on her shoulder with her cheek. “Yes you are! Ooooh, yes you are!”

"Ah, garden shears! Well done!" Why didn't he think of that? Just the thing to extricate her with the lowest possible risk of disaster. And was that a shed over there? Perfect! A quick jog, a quick rummage, and they'd be out of this mess.

Just so long as Elodie's tarantula affections didn't inspire them to tie her up any tighter, or web up her mouth and potentially suffocate her, or something ludicrous like that to make her panic.


[X]: SECOND BEST

Are you kidding? There’s only one person who would have such a close bond with her spidery kin, such nefarious plots, and a need for damsels in distress! G'eldriia Despana!!

And before you butt in and say that she can spin her own webs, why do you think mortals domesticated dogs, when they too can run down prey and bite? Dria has got classes to study for, quiz team meets to plan, and that’s without including cheer practice in the mix. She can’t take the time to swaddle up prizes in her webs personally! (“Behind one of these three doors is Elodie Faucher! But behind one is a swarm of killer bees! If you pick one and I open one of the doors that does not have either, should you change your answer?”) Train a pack of tarantulas to kidnap girls, and then all you have to do is check the webs daily, and then either offer them a spot on the team or use them as grand prizes in practice. It’s ingenious!

But that also means Timmy’s in terrible danger of being pressganged into the quiz bowl team! He’d never have time to hang out with her if that happened! After all, she’s still just second best... which means he has to get out of here immediately!

Now, if only Elodie had figured that out before the tarantulas had smeared webbing all over her mouth. She’d have to use head motions and very insistent grunts to warn him of the terrible danger he was in, and how he needed to leave now, and not risk getting stuck!!

I mean, Timmy’s super smart and wouldn’t just assume she’s panicking and blunder right into the webs, right? Right??

Oh no! Elodie's definitely panicking!

He had to get her out of there, now!

"Alright! Alright! I've - I've got the shears, just, hold still! All of you!" And Timothy descended upon Death's trapped daughter, striving to cut her loose with extremely sharp and unweildly garden shears, all while she was flailing about and covered in tarantulas.

What could possibly go wrong?

[Rolling to Keep Tim's Cool. Timothy is afraid of literally anything that would upset Death vis-a-vis his treatment of Elodie. Roll: 5 + 3 + 1 = 9]

[Anarion]

Oh, aha, ah, um, there's a reason why we don't capitalize 'angel' there dearie. He's not the sort of creature anyone would feel comfortable calling an Angel but you wouldn't exactly want to offend him by implying that he's not, either.

I am hesitating here purely because I do not know how to delicately answer your question. I could answer it in a lot of ways - viscerally, violently, suddenly, invasively, transgressively - but I don't really know which of those you deserve. So why not Gaze into the Abyss a little, and tell me while you're at it tell me a bit about the broken and fearful parts of your soul.

[5+2+1=8 for gazing into the abyss. I'll take lucid visions and the Drained condition.]

DRAINED
IGNORANT

Let me tell you some fearful and broken things. First, understand this. Annalee Sokolov has no sense of fairness or justice in her for anyone else. She expects the world to give her what she wants. This isn't an act or just arrogance. She really thinks she deserves everything and it is unfair when the world is against her. Death was unfair just now, petty and vindictive. Burke was being unfair, she'd hardly had control over what death did. The angel was wildly unfair, running the school like it did. She deserved a medal just for enduring this. And it was hard for her to endure all of this. Because even though Annalee could talk a good game and felt entitled to everything she desired, she was very afraid of violence. She had magic, but it was limited, specific, embarrassing, maybe disabling, but it wasn't like having a gun or a club. She was heavier than she wanted to be, not as good-looking, people didn't fawn over her automatically, she had to take it all when she wanted it, and if somebody really fought back and hurt her...she couldn't do anything about that. And that scared her. Not being in control scared her so much. She never wanted to feel that way.

[Thanqol]

Now, if only Elodie had figured that out before the tarantulas had smeared webbing all over her mouth. She’d have to use head motions and very insistent grunts to warn him of the terrible danger he was in, and how he needed to leave now, and not risk getting stuck!!

I mean, Timmy’s super smart and wouldn’t just assume she’s panicking and blunder right into the webs, right? Right??


Oh no! Elodie's definitely panicking!

He had to get her out of there, now!

"Alright! Alright! I've - I've got the shears, just, hold still! All of you!" And Timothy descended upon Death's trapped daughter, striving to cut her loose with extremely sharp and unweildly garden shears, all while she was flailing about and covered in tarantulas.

What could possibly go wrong?

[Rolling to Keep Tim's Cool. Timothy is afraid of literally anything that would upset Death vis-a-vis his treatment of Elodie. Roll: 5 + 3 + 1 = 9]

"Such precision," a voice purred directly into your ear, Timothy, as you set the shears against the webbing. "Such smooth, firm, confident motions! And how selfish it would be to keep this talent for yourself - talent like this belongs to the world!"

And then G'eldriia's fanged maw opens up and presses gently against your shoulder. You can feel the fangs punch through the shoulder of your shirt. Unlike Elodie, she is weirdly good at talking with her mouth full - maybe because her jaw breaks into four segments when she's speaking.

"Go on," she murmurs. "Show me what you have got."

So, choices. If you go ahead and save Elodie then you're going to get bitten by a poisonous spidergirl and carried away to participate in some horrible gameshow. Or you could take a dive, throw Elodie under the bus, and be able to go about your day entirely normally without consequences other than raising the personal ire of Death, the Omega, the End of Things.

Elodie, did you have any muffled words of advice or encouragement for Tim in this situation?


[5+2+1=8 for gazing into the abyss. I'll take lucid visions and the Drained condition.]

DRAINED
IGNORANT

Let me tell you some fearful and broken things. First, understand this. Annalee Sokolov has no sense of fairness or justice in her for anyone else. She expects the world to give her what she wants. This isn't an act or just arrogance. She really thinks she deserves everything and it is unfair when the world is against her. Death was unfair just now, petty and vindictive. Burke was being unfair, she'd hardly had control over what death did. The angel was wildly unfair, running the school like it did. She deserved a medal just for enduring this. And it was hard for her to endure all of this. Because even though Annalee could talk a good game and felt entitled to everything she desired, she was very afraid of violence. She had magic, but it was limited, specific, embarrassing, maybe disabling, but it wasn't like having a gun or a club. She was heavier than she wanted to be, not as good-looking, people didn't fawn over her automatically, she had to take it all when she wanted it, and if somebody really fought back and hurt her...she couldn't do anything about that. And that scared her. Not being in control scared her so much. She never wanted to feel that way.

You come to the bedroom of Lord Sleepshy. The old mummy is lying on his back above the covers, pyjamas and conical nightcap with pom-pom accenting him in moth-eaten orange and white. His toothless mouth gapes and you can see the current of air passing through a leather-worn throat that has lost all the meat and muscle that should keep it aloft. Four tall pillars surround his bed, emerald green sheets and rainforest green carpets fill a room with luxurious empty space and magnificent sweeping windows. Here and there in the shadows, technology lurks - as dusty and sophisticated as the paintings. Dialysis machines, heartrate monitors, condescending exercise machines peer out alongside previous Lords Sleepshy in various stages of decay. A grand window, five meters high, captures an endless view of sprawling castle walls, stormy hills, and fog-throttled valleys.

The rasping, wretched sound of the old man's struggle with breath fills this cavernous space, like the pneumatic pounding of an iron lung. From somewhere a soft, steady beeping in tune with a heartbeat. The acrid chemical scent of disinfectant and too-sweet bubbling of mashed dried bananas hangs like a funeral veil.

There is no fragility in this room. The presence of death is thick but it does not belong to Lord Sleepshy. Everything here is pumping life into his decrepit veins, horcruxes of science and watercolours. His hands are thick and bony - a young man's hands, spidery and fresh and strong. Now and then as he gapes and grasps at the bedsheets you can see the tendons raised like steel wires.

The angel hovers above Lord Sleepshy's head, like a thought bubble, or a preacher. It is pencil-scape rough and shudderingly articulated. A tumbleweed formed from the lead shavings of a postal animator. Blonde and raven hair cascades from it in sheets and ruby wading boots keep the piano-time on the fragile chest of Lord Sleepshy. Eyes like saucepans and pupils like bitten apples and eight fingers fit into a glove with room for three. Its tail is black rubber. Its face recalls no animal.

"feed me" said the angel, breaking itself in half so there was an empty space at its core.

What do you know about the angel? What can be known about a creature like that? It is no creature of the underworld, beholden to no dark regent, bound by no faerie oath. It travels along strange paths and allows strange ways. It is a manic creature, a violent one, a driven one but also one simple and cruel and carefree - it will abandon its closely held schemes like a rag, though it pulled the world to fulfil them. But the greatest threat it poses is neither its familiarity with or enormous capacity for violence - it is that it considers violence to be funny. It will unleash its power idly and unprovoked for no other reason than the fulfilment of some strange joke or to relieve its boredom - and it can scarcely get through a single conversation without becoming bored.

[Raz_Fox]

[X]: SECOND PLACE

Of course she does! Her reassurance is to curl her one free hand up into a fist, and shake it a little to attract his attention. “Don’t worry,” she tries to say. “We’ll beat her up together.”

However, through several layers of silk, that does sound a whole lot like “don’t hurt me, I’ll tear like a feather.”

Which might just make Timmy start imagining how furious Death would be if he accidentally ripped His daughter in half with a pair of shaking gardening shears.

And I mean, really, Elodie probably wants some girl time with Dria! Why else would she be balling up her fist just like a spider’s abdomen? What clever sign language!

[TheAmishPirate]

"Such precision," a voice purred directly into your ear, Timothy, as you set the shears against the webbing. "Such smooth, firm, confident motions! And how selfish it would be to keep this talent for yourself - talent like this belongs to the world!"

And then G'eldriia's fanged maw opens up and presses gently against your shoulder. You can feel the fangs punch through the shoulder of your shirt. Unlike Elodie, she is weirdly good at talking with her mouth full - maybe because her jaw breaks into four segments when she's speaking.

"Go on," she murmurs. "Show me what you have got."

So, choices. If you go ahead and save Elodie then you're going to get bitten by a poisonous spidergirl and carried away to participate in some horrible gameshow. Or you could take a dive, throw Elodie under the bus, and be able to go about your day entirely normally without consequences other than raising the personal ire of Death, the Omega, the End of Things.

Elodie, did you have any muffled words of advice or encouragement for Tim in this situation?


[X]: SECOND PLACE

Of course she does! Her reassurance is to curl her one free hand up into a fist, and shake it a little to attract his attention. “Don’t worry,” she tries to say. “We’ll beat her up together.”

However, through several layers of silk, that does sound a whole lot like “don’t hurt me, I’ll tear like a feather.”

Which might just make Timmy start imagining how furious Death would be if he accidentally ripped His daughter in half with a pair of shaking gardening shears.

And I mean, really, Elodie probably wants some girl time with Dria! Why else would she be balling up her fist just like a spider’s abdomen? What clever sign language!

Don't be ridiculous. As if he could ever hide behind such an excuse. Everybody knows the sign language for spider is one hand over the other while you wiggle your fingers like spider legs.

No no, he was on the same page as Elodie, one hundred per cent. She'd gotten him out of a scrape not five minutes ago, right? All he had to do was get her out of this scrape, and she'd get him out of this one, and life would be just peachy. (This was the lie that he told himself to keep from screaming. Golly, he...really could have gone the rest of his life without seeing G'eldriia's jawlines this close. He could have, and now he couldn't, and he felt that loss deeply.) Now if he could just keep her distracted for a few crucial moments, that should help their chances a great deal...

"I sh-should warn you." That's it, speak easily, calmly. Rationally. Not prey about to make a wild leap for freedom. "Traditionally, that sort of thing is reserved until after dinner, after-dinner activities, and pleasant conversation. And only when the couple is alone." Remember the rules of engagement he'd so closely studied. Let their ironclad surety be his cool resolve. "I-in addition to brazenly skpping the order, I should think this would constitute a clear violation of the First Rule. I say, aren't the first matches of the season due to start soon?" Get her mind on her quiz team. On the closeness of their faces. On the terrible risk of those last, forbidden inches. Anywhere but on his hands, and how they'd been quietly snipping away this whole time. "Is this really the time and place," he murmered. "To explore my talents?"

...in his defense, he was much too frightened to realize that was the worst possible thing he could've said.

[Rolling to Turn G'eldriia On, and -

Um.

6 + 5 - 1 = 10

The dice have spoken, and I take a string on G'eldriia. :smalleek:]

[Raz_Fox]

[X]: SECOND PLACE

Aha! The moment of truth! The vital distraction! And of course Timmy is doing such a fine job of providing such a distraction! Don’t worry, Ellie’s not jealous at all of how Dria gets all that poise and gentlemanlyness out of him!

Elodie explodes out of the webs, trailing tarantulas, and socks Dria right in the face! Okay, so maybe she’s likely to bite down in shock, but it’s just as likely she’ll let go of Timmy in shock, right?

[4 on Lashing Out!]

[Anarion]

The angel hovers above Lord Sleepshy's head, like a thought bubble, or a preacher. It is pencil-scape rough and shudderingly articulated. A tumbleweed formed from the lead shavings of a postal animator. Blonde and raven hair cascades from it in sheets and ruby wading boots keep the piano-time on the fragile chest of Lord Sleepshy. Eyes like saucepans and pupils like bitten apples and eight fingers fit into a glove with room for three. Its tail is black rubber. Its face recalls no animal.

"feed me" said the angel, breaking itself in half so there was an empty space at its core.

What do you know about the angel? What can be known about a creature like that? It is no creature of the underworld, beholden to no dark regent, bound by no faerie oath. It travels along strange paths and allows strange ways. It is a manic creature, a violent one, a driven one but also one simple and cruel and carefree - it will abandon its closely held schemes like a rag, though it pulled the world to fulfil them. But the greatest threat it poses is neither its familiarity with or enormous capacity for violence - it is that it considers violence to be funny. It will unleash its power idly and unprovoked for no other reason than the fulfilment of some strange joke or to relieve its boredom - and it can scarcely get through a single conversation without becoming bored.

"Fine, that's what I came here for, no need to get in such a huff" Annalee says.

Alright, the angel is dangerous and violent, and so everyone acts timid around it because they are afraid of its danger and violence. Annalee is too, and maybe if you were paying attention, you'd notice a bit of a quiver in her voice and some unsteadiness in the arms holding the buckets. But she's guessing the angel doesn't notice those things and that it's very bored of people who do nothing but cry and kowtow and beg it for mercy. At best they come up with some very slightly original language in their begging, and after hundreds of years, even that's going to be stretched thin. So, she puts on an act, the act that she always puts on because it's a damn good act and it's interesting.

"Goodness" she says, hefting the first bucket deliberately in two hands to prevent any quivering. "You've really got the whole place worked up over you. No sleeping at all, and people dismantling mines. I bet you didn't even come up with that one." She walks over, takes her time, looks around the room, and casually throws the contents of the bucket into the thing's open maw. Drops that, just leaves it right in the middle of the floor like somebody else will clean up after her and goes to fetch the other one. "You ever think of relaxing the rules around here? Or even better, get Tim to teach a class, he actually knows how regular people live, it would be a total hit" (unsaid because Tim is a huge pushover). "And maybe let us sleep a bit around here while you're at it, everybody does it all the time anyway, and frankly if we actually tried to follow the rule, we'd all just drop out in the middle of the rooms anyway." She finishes tossing the last bucket, drops that and turns to leave the room, her work done. Maybe it will even deign to answer, but she's not going to wait up for it.

[Rolling to keep cool. Got a 3+5+2=10. Annalee is terribly afraid that she's actually going to piss the thing off and have it go berserk in some way, but she seems to be carrying this off pretty well.]

[Thanqol]

"I sh-should warn you." That's it, speak easily, calmly. Rationally. Not prey about to make a wild leap for freedom. "Traditionally, that sort of thing is reserved until after dinner, after-dinner activities, and pleasant conversation. And only when the couple is alone." Remember the rules of engagement he'd so closely studied. Let their ironclad surety be his cool resolve. "I-in addition to brazenly skpping the order, I should think this would constitute a clear violation of the First Rule. I say, aren't the first matches of the season due to start soon?" Get her mind on her quiz team. On the closeness of their faces. On the terrible risk of those last, forbidden inches. Anywhere but on his hands, and how they'd been quietly snipping away this whole time. "Is this really the time and place," he murmered. "To explore my talents?"

...in his defense, he was much too frightened to realize that was the worst possible thing he could've said.

[Rolling to Turn G'eldriia On, and -

Um.

6 + 5 - 1 = 10

The dice have spoken, and I take a string on G'eldriia. :smalleek:]

Are you a snake charmer, Timothy? Or whatever the spider version of that is? A spider seducer, say? That's the feeling you get from the increasing stillness and fascination as half a dozen eyes follow your gestures fixatedly. Lingering on the firmness of your hands, the way your uniform falls back from your forearms to reveal your biceps... the way a little bit of drool is starting to soak into your collar...


[X]: SECOND PLACE

Aha! The moment of truth! The vital distraction! And of course Timmy is doing such a fine job of providing such a distraction! Don’t worry, Ellie’s not jealous at all of how Dria gets all that poise and gentlemanlyness out of him!

Elodie explodes out of the webs, trailing tarantulas, and socks Dria right in the face! Okay, so maybe she’s likely to bite down in shock, but it’s just as likely she’ll let go of Timmy in shock, right?

[4 on Lashing Out!]

You strike the distracted Dria directly on the head and, yes indeed, her teeth sink all the way into Timothy's shoulder. This isn't the nice gentle graze of poison that knocks a person out - this is the full, lethal dose. Dria steps back shaking her head wildly while the colour starts to drain from Tim's face.

Oh dear. Oh dear. You're suddenly in a professional situation. You are the Reaper Attending. It is your duty to guide this wayward soul into the afterlife.

Tell me what that means, Elodie - and have no doubt your father will be watching.

Tim, you're dying for real. Don't worry! It feels super cozy and warm - right up until the moment it doesn't. This can't be your first time, can it? Tell us about your last go around.


"Fine, that's what I came here for, no need to get in such a huff" Annalee says.

Alright, the angel is dangerous and violent, and so everyone acts timid around it because they are afraid of its danger and violence. Annalee is too, and maybe if you were paying attention, you'd notice a bit of a quiver in her voice and some unsteadiness in the arms holding the buckets. But she's guessing the angel doesn't notice those things and that it's very bored of people who do nothing but cry and kowtow and beg it for mercy. At best they come up with some very slightly original language in their begging, and after hundreds of years, even that's going to be stretched thin. So, she puts on an act, the act that she always puts on because it's a damn good act and it's interesting.

"Goodness" she says, hefting the first bucket deliberately in two hands to prevent any quivering. "You've really got the whole place worked up over you. No sleeping at all, and people dismantling mines. I bet you didn't even come up with that one." She walks over, takes her time, looks around the room, and casually throws the contents of the bucket into the thing's open maw. Drops that, just leaves it right in the middle of the floor like somebody else will clean up after her and goes to fetch the other one. "You ever think of relaxing the rules around here? Or even better, get Tim to teach a class, he actually knows how regular people live, it would be a total hit" (unsaid because Tim is a huge pushover). "And maybe let us sleep a bit around here while you're at it, everybody does it all the time anyway, and frankly if we actually tried to follow the rule, we'd all just drop out in the middle of the rooms anyway." She finishes tossing the last bucket, drops that and turns to leave the room, her work done. Maybe it will even deign to answer, but she's not going to wait up for it.

[Rolling to keep cool. Got a 3+5+2=10. Annalee is terribly afraid that she's actually going to piss the thing off and have it go berserk in some way, but she seems to be carrying this off pretty well.]

"ha ha," said the angel, putting a severed arm into its mouth - and spitting out the bones a moment later. "mr crompton as a teacher! ha ha ha! i bet he would be very good at it!" more meat. More chewing with the creature's entire face; the kind of chewing where eyebrows ripple. "i'd love to help you with the sleeping, really, i would," it races on stubby legs around in front of you to take hold of your wrists and show you its smile. "but you have to understand that poor lord sleepshy is very sensitive and you wouldn't believe the dreams he gets when he hears other people sleeping. you know that's what causes sleepwalking? it is true! you should know by now what kind of things can find you i n y o u r d r e a m s."

It turns its head downwards to huck the last few bones onto the carpet.

"please pick these up," said the angel. "and get them down to the infirmary. and in fact, you should stay there and watch what happens! it is valuable real world knowledge to know which bone connects to the other bones. just the sort of thing that makes people productive members of society."

[Raz_Fox]

[X]: SECOND PLACE

“No! No! Absolutely not! This isn’t fair!” Elodie desperately tries to provide CPR, only succeeding in breaking a few ribs and hastening Timmy on his way.

Can you see her, Timmy? Truly see her? Blazing blue lights set in her mask-like face, serene and crowned with dead flowers and, yes, pink hair trailing off into forever? Isn’t she horrifying? What a freak, putting on a human costume in order to play around with the likes of you.

Elodie, Aristi Cthonia Neotera, stamps her foot, and it echoes in the vast and yawning world beyond.

“Timmy,” she says, her mouth not moving, and there is a deathly reverb to the name, and a howling of some subterranean chorus, “don’t worry! I’ll just stay here with you until the angel comes to pick you up, a-and, you’ll only be a little bit faded, you’ll probably be fine, no going mad here! Who’s mad? I’m not! You’re not!”

There’s a reason that you’re supposed to guide ghosts on. Lots of reasons. If you let them get lost, they can fall prey to... let’s call them spiritual predators. If you ignore them, they start to lose track of who they were, everything sloughing off their strongest obsession or memory. Why do you think ghosts repeat themselves so often, coming back to the same place or saying the same thing? It’s all they remember.

But don’t worry! Don’t worry! Everything is going to be fine, as long as you don’t panic and run off, and the angel shows up to collect you and take you back!

Which, he can, right? He can totally show up on the other side, right?? That’s part and parcel of being a weird angel who won’t let anybody stay dead!!

[Anarion]

DRAINED
IGNORANT

Annalee nods. She's feeling more than a little tired, in all honesty. Carrying buckets, doing manual labor. She's not making great time picking up the bones, but she's also got no reason to disobey the angel now. She's done the feeding, just need to grab a bucket, stumble over to the bones and get out of there and she could go somewhere. Well, certainly not sleep, perish the thought...literally. But she could go and relax somewhere, get her thoughts in order and get ready for the next set of classes. That sounded excellent. Maybe she'd review her various tokens, see if there were any interesting workings she could do. Bones from a classmate sounded like an excellent mystical connection for that matter. None of them would notice if she took a little chip off one, right? Right. Exactly. So that is the plan. Gather bones, exit room in haste, take them to the infirmary, pocket a bone chip while she's there, watch the magic happen.

That's an entirely reasonable and easy to execute plan that encounters no complications, right?

[TheAmishPirate]

Are you a snake charmer, Timothy? Or whatever the spider version of that is? A spider seducer, say? That's the feeling you get from the increasing stillness and fascination as half a dozen eyes follow your gestures fixatedly. Lingering on the firmness of your hands, the way your uniform falls back from your forearms to reveal your biceps... the way a little bit of drool is starting to soak into your collar...

In past dealings with Dria, she had never looked at him. She saw him, yes. But her attention was on her webs. Her schemes. The countless threads she'd laid out. Waiting for one of them to pull tight around him, binding him to her roster forever.

This

was a unique way to be looked at.


You strike the distracted Dria directly on the head and, yes indeed, her teeth sink all the way into Timothy's shoulder. This isn't the nice gentle graze of poison that knocks a person out - this is the full, lethal dose. Dria steps back shaking her head wildly while the colour starts to drain from Tim's face.

Tim, you're dying for real. Don't worry! It feels super cozy and warm - right up until the moment it doesn't. This can't be your first time, can it? Tell us about your last go around.

A pity he didn't have long to think about it. Or much of anything, really. Perhaps it was a mercy, that.

Last time he'd died was due to a series of poor judgement calls. He had thought the noise he'd heard was a student in the clutches of a terrible monster. He had thought he was far enough away to safely see what had happened. He had thought the moon wasn't to be full until the next evening.

The werewolf? Well, it's hard to say what she thought. One would hope she thought her hammer throw would have tossed Timothy across the room, instead of through the far wall and off the side of the building. One would hope. That time, Timothy got a long, painful drop to contemplate what was about to happen, and a plethora of nightmares to follow.

This time, though...

“Oh, fiddleshtxschchxxcshhcshx.” Timothy said, as his tongue, face, and brain went numb. He wound up on the floor - no telling how - wrapped in a thick, cozy warmth that made it quite difficult to put his thoughts together; how comfortable! Up until the point when he suddenly couldn't breath, something broke several ribs, and he choked to death. That was less comfortable.


[X]: SECOND PLACE

“No! No! Absolutely not! This isn’t fair!” Elodie desperately tries to provide CPR, only succeeding in breaking a few ribs and hastening Timmy on his way.

Can you see her, Timmy? Truly see her? Blazing blue lights set in her mask-like face, serene and crowned with dead flowers and, yes, pink hair trailing off into forever? Isn’t she horrifying? What a freak, putting on a human costume in order to play around with the likes of you.

Elodie, Aristi Cthonia Neotera, stamps her foot, and it echoes in the vast and yawning world beyond.

“Timmy,” she says, her mouth not moving, and there is a deathly reverb to the name, and a howling of some subterranean chorus, “don’t worry! I’ll just stay here with you until the angel comes to pick you up, a-and, you’ll only be a little bit faded, you’ll probably be fine, no going mad here! Who’s mad? I’m not! You’re not!”

There’s a reason that you’re supposed to guide ghosts on. Lots of reasons. If you let them get lost, they can fall prey to... let’s call them spiritual predators. If you ignore them, they start to lose track of who they were, everything sloughing off their strongest obsession or memory. Why do you think ghosts repeat themselves so often, coming back to the same place or saying the same thing? It’s all they remember.

But don’t worry! Don’t worry! Everything is going to be fine, as long as you don’t panic and run off, and the angel shows up to collect you and take you back!

Which, he can, right? He can totally show up on the other side, right?? That’s part and parcel of being a weird angel who won’t let anybody stay dead!!

And then it was all gone.

Or rather, he was gone. But you can miss that sort of thing when you’re in a mortal panic. The sudden stillness. The forgetting. The creeping feeling that things are not right, and you are not right. He would’ve screamed, had he not been so busy gasping for air. No, no, the screams started when he saw the nightmare Elodie hovering over him, speaking like the real Elodie, but her voice was all wrong, and he was lost and wanted to run, but try as he might he couldn’t remember where he was or how to escape and this was all wrong, all wrong!

"Elodie! Elodie, what's happened to you?" What are you saying?! Backpedal, man, backpedal! Before she eats your heart! "N-not that it's a bad happened...to you. Why, you look a queen!" Good! Keep going! "A queen...in a bright sunflower hoodie. I've never seen any queens in hoodies before, but it's very you! If you were a queen, I might just picture it like that, with the sunflowers and the flower crown and the hair - I-it just flows on and on, doesn't it? Wow...yes. There it goes. And, and, have you ever seen such a blue before? I, well, I don't know if you can see your own eyes, but, p-please, trust me, I've never seen anything like it, and oh gosh, oh heavens, Elodie, where have we gone I can't walk I can't go anywhere, there's something terribly wrong and I can't, I can't remember it at all, and, and, please Elly!"

"Please..." He reached helplessly into the dark.

Straining to find her hand.

"Help me!"

[Rolling to Turn Elodie On with some Mixed Messages, Two Eyes active: 3 + 1 + 4 = 8 Your choice, Elly]

EDIT: While we're here, why don't you tell us a bit about what Timothy looks like as a ghost? Do all ghosts look the same?

[Raz_Fox]

[X]: SECOND PLACE

Ghost science is very weird! Nobody knows why, say, some people turn into ghosts like they looked like at the moment they died, some people turn into ghosts like their strongest memories of themselves, and some people turn into ghosts with bleeding horse heads and hooks for hands. It is a myyyyyystery!

What’s also mysterious is why you, Timothy Oglevee Crompton, look like yourself, but without your glasses, and with the cutest most darling little sheep ears and tail. Okay, it’s not that much of a mystery. It’s just revealing your INNER PSYCHE. Baaaaaa.

“Timmy,” Elodie says, placing one gauntleted thumb on your lips, which is totally where you want ice-cold metals from the depths of Stygia. “I promise I’m going to make this okay.”

And she’s going to do it without tapping into her psychopomp powers, Dad. She takes him by the hand and drags him along, looking for a sepulchral door to use her knocking powers on (in a way that’s totally not Psychopompy) and then she’ll take the ghost back through and stick Timmy back inside his mortal shell and paper it over with metaphysical duct tape!

It’s okay! She can balance the promise she has just made to Timmy, one which will weigh upon the scales of her very soul until it is done, with her strong personal decision not to be a psychopomp despite being in a situation where doing psychopomp things would fix the situation very, very easily.

But that’s okay! This hack way will totally work just as well.

(This is going to be a disaster.)

[TheAmishPirate]

[X]: SECOND PLACE

Ghost science is very weird! Nobody knows why, say, some people turn into ghosts like they looked like at the moment they died, some people turn into ghosts like their strongest memories of themselves, and some people turn into ghosts with bleeding horse heads and hooks for hands. It is a myyyyyystery!

What’s also mysterious is why you, Timothy Oglevee Crompton, look like yourself, but without your glasses, and with the cutest most darling little sheep ears and tail. Okay, it’s not that much of a mystery. It’s just revealing your INNER PSYCHE. Baaaaaa.

“Timmy,” Elodie says, placing one gauntleted thumb on your lips, which is totally where you want ice-cold metals from the depths of Stygia. “I promise I’m going to make this okay.”

And she’s going to do it without tapping into her psychopomp powers, Dad. She takes him by the hand and drags him along, looking for a sepulchral door to use her knocking powers on (in a way that’s totally not Psychopompy) and then she’ll take the ghost back through and stick Timmy back inside his mortal shell and paper it over with metaphysical duct tape!

It’s okay! She can balance the promise she has just made to Timmy, one which will weigh upon the scales of her very soul until it is done, with her strong personal decision not to be a psychopomp despite being in a situation where doing psychopomp things would fix the situation very, very easily.

But that’s okay! This hack way will totally work just as well.

(This is going to be a disaster.)

Silence descended on the pair as they floated through oblivion. Was it an awkward silence? Uncomfortable, stifling, unsettling silence? One of those moments where all the individuals involved feel that somebody ought to say something, but none of them know what exactly it is, only that they know everybody knows something ought to be said?

Timothy was a ghost, though he hadn’t caught up on that point. Ghosts have a hard time holding onto their thoughts. Thoughts that weren’t held weren’t inclined - much like ghosts - to move on to other, bigger thoughts. He hadn’t said anything, but what of it? Was that important? Was that wrong? He couldn’t say.

Timothy was a sheepish ghost, and he definitely hadn’t caught up on that point. (His ears kept anxiously perking up in a most adorable fashion.) Sheep were quite content to follow wherever a relatively safe-looking, competent individual would lead. Queens were relatively safe. Queens were capable.

Elodie’s gauntlet-clad hand was cold. Not the most pleasant thing to hold onto, but better than nothing. Gosh, so much better than Nothing. It was Real, and there were few things like that in this place. A frightened sheep boy in ghastly circumstances learns not to be too picky when counting blessings.

This place was still. And for the first time in a while - as far as a ghost can even remember - Timothy was still too.

And perhaps that was okay.

What of you, Elodie? How fare you on this silent stroll, hand-in-hand with Timothy?

[Thanqol]

DRAINED
IGNORANT

Annalee nods. She's feeling more than a little tired, in all honesty. Carrying buckets, doing manual labor. She's not making great time picking up the bones, but she's also got no reason to disobey the angel now. She's done the feeding, just need to grab a bucket, stumble over to the bones and get out of there and she could go somewhere. Well, certainly not sleep, perish the thought...literally. But she could go and relax somewhere, get her thoughts in order and get ready for the next set of classes. That sounded excellent. Maybe she'd review her various tokens, see if there were any interesting workings she could do. Bones from a classmate sounded like an excellent mystical connection for that matter. None of them would notice if she took a little chip off one, right? Right. Exactly. So that is the plan. Gather bones, exit room in haste, take them to the infirmary, pocket a bone chip while she's there, watch the magic happen.

That's an entirely reasonable and easy to execute plan that encounters no complications, right?

The Infirmary is run by the infamous Doctor Worm - or as the full list of titles carved into the thick pane of bulletproof glass would have it, Reporter Dr. Mr. Mrs. PhD. Esquire Keeper of the Swans Obsidian Medchanoid. They like collecting titles.

No medical mind in the world would be intelligent enough to remember the full list of possible ailments, mundane and supernatural, which could stand to afflict students of Sleepshy Rise. How does a werewolf bite interact with a selkie in molt? How does one surgically re-implant vampire teeth that have been cursed to fall out? Not only do these problems have to be solved, they have to be solved in such a way that does not include any possibility of death. No individual could handle the task. Which is why Doctor Worm is six to eight individuals! Doctors, mad scientists, necromancers - everything the role requires!

(Honestly, the journalism degree-brain is an indulgence that is not necessary to the fulfilment of Doctor Worm's job, but sometimes you have to do something for you, you know?)

They are plated in brass; a light and freshly polished warm brown colour, set with a hundred small blue lights along its length. A network of a dozen eye lenses glows from its face, behind which brain matter is crammed in far too densely in a space made to occupy only one brain, two at the most. Two stubby dinosaur-like multitiool forearms clink and clean each other like a fly washing its forelimbs. It has tucked a card reading PRESS awkwardly into the space behind one of its cooling vents.

On the slab behind it is Timothy. Stone dead.

"Good evening, Ms. Annalee," said Doctor Worm, dripping condensation. Their cooling unit is constantly on the verge of failure due to the cranial store being so dramatically over-capacity. "Do you have any tips regarding the detonation that rocked the school recently?"

[Raz_Fox]

[X]: SECOND PLACE

Ahahahahaha who’s panicking? Elodie’s not panicking! Everything is under control! Under better circumstances, she’d be enjoying walking with Timmy, just the two of them, alone, especially since he didn’t seem to be scared of her underworld form. Under these circumstances, though? She just feels horribly guilty and has “don’t creep on Timmy” on a loop in her head. Ghost consent is extremely convoluted and complicated, especially with the power dynamic in play, gosh!

When she makes out with Timmy, and she’s totally gonna, she wants it to be full of life. She wants him to surprise her, a thing he’s totally capable of doing! She wants him to be awed by the flowers she gives him, and to offer her his life in the form of kisses and squeezes and affirmations that, yes, she’s pretty, she’s alive, she’s worth spending time with, she’s not too awkward and bubbly and clearly a psychopomp. She wants him to treat her like one of his human girls, ordinary and adorable and kissable.

Do you know how many kisses psychopomps get?

NOT! FREAKING! MANY!

[Anarion]

"Good evening, Ms. Annalee," said Doctor Worm, dripping condensation. Their cooling unit is constantly on the verge of failure due to the cranial store being so dramatically over-capacity. "Do you have any tips regarding the detonation that rocked the school recently?"

DRAINED
IGNORANT

"Oh yes, it was a tragic accident. Timothy was in charge of the operation, but he flatly refused to lend us his expertise and as soon as I touched it, the whole thing exploded. Personally, considering how quickly he and Elodie fled the scene, I'm of a mind that he sabotaged it with his tinkering. But I suppose he could have just been entirely incompetent."

Annalee gives Doctor Worm a shrug that says I'm too tired to be properly outraged and drops off her bones. He seems to be watching too closely for her to steal any shavings just now, so she simply sets them down. "Why isn't he back yet, though? Or is that just an old version of his body?"

[TheAmishPirate]

"Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa..."

Oh, it looks like a thought's finally gained some purchase. And, as you say, ghost science is very weird. Ghost communication science weirder still. But anybody listening to that bleat would say, "That's one trepidatious sheep you've got there, yessir yessir. Just packed with uncertainty over its life and/or future."

"Am I going to stay here?" Timothy asked, turning those plain-as-mud eyes towards (but not quite on) Elodie.

[Thanqol]

DRAINED
IGNORANT

"Oh yes, it was a tragic accident. Timothy was in charge of the operation, but he flatly refused to lend us his expertise and as soon as I touched it, the whole thing exploded. Personally, considering how quickly he and Elodie fled the scene, I'm of a mind that he sabotaged it with his tinkering. But I suppose he could have just been entirely incompetent."

Annalee gives Doctor Worm a shrug that says I'm too tired to be properly outraged and drops off her bones. He seems to be watching too closely for her to steal any shavings just now, so she simply sets them down. "Why isn't he back yet, though? Or is that just an old version of his body?"

"Fas-cin-at-ing," said Doctor Worm, leaning over the body. "A mind like that? A technician or saboteur? Perhaps I should make room for some of his brain..."

The good doctor began picking bones one by one out of the bucket and started to lay them out on the slabs. "I do not understand what the issue is with the revival. I have attached the electrodes and engaged the serums and I am not receiving any panoptic feedback. I suspect the issue is spiritual. Perhaps he is attempting to form into a ghost, or otherwise being improperly spiritually guided?"

They slithered about to fix you with a dozen eyes. "Perhaps I could have you pop over to the other side to check on him?"

[Raz_Fox]

[X]: SECOND PLACE.

“No! No, you are not!” Okay, that was definitely a deathly shriek. Maybe a little banshee in there? Her serene stone face never moves. Her lips are set in a knowing, subtle smile.

Oh, look! We’ve arrived! It’s a door! Okay, it’s three pillars leaning on each other perilously, but it’s a doorway, it’s a liminal space, it counts!

She knocks on one of the pillars, and the black beyond gets even blacker and deeper and more perilous. And she takes Timmy’s hand, before realizing that holding hands with someone as they pass from death’s doorstep is such a psychopomp thing to do.

So she shoves her crush through instead, and then casually happens to follow him.

[10 on Through the Looking Glass. Technically I’m only supposed to use this to go to supernatural worlds, so I am open to more MC interference than usual on this move.]

[TheAmishPirate]

[X]: SECOND PLACE.

“No! No, you are not!” Okay, that was definitely a deathly shriek. Maybe a little banshee in there? Her serene stone face never moves. Her lips are set in a knowing, subtle smile.

Oh buns, oh snip and snapple, oh jimminies that was wrong. He did it wrong. Oh no they were holding hands. Oh no he couldn't get away. He was trapped. Trapped! Appeasement! Appeasement!!!

"Good! Good. I never wanted to stay anyway, so that's good. We're good here. Yes we are." His ears trembled. He hoped it helped his case, terrible as it was. Couldn't he do any better?


Oh, look! We’ve arrived! It’s a door! Okay, it’s three pillars leaning on each other perilously, but it’s a doorway, it’s a liminal space, it counts!

She knocks on one of the pillars, and the black beyond gets even blacker and deeper and more perilous. And she takes Timmy’s hand, before realizing that holding hands with someone as they pass from death’s doorstep is such a psychopomp thing to do.

"And I didn't want to stay because...because..." Timothy's eyes grew distant as the deepening black. "There was something - I know there was - something still to do. Something that couldn't be done here."

"Something...with someone-"


So she shoves her crush through instead, and then casually happens to follow him.

And that is the last word he spoke before he was flung into the inky abyss with a startled "Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

[Anarion]

They slithered about to fix you with a dozen eyes. "Perhaps I could have you pop over to the other side to check on him?"

"Uh, is that a euphemism for killing me? I'm really not up for that right now, thanks but no thanks, back to my studies and hard work, that sort of thing, good night and no thanks. But uh, if you've got some tips on how to do proper astral projection, while remaining alive the entire time, I could maybe be persuaded to help out."

Learning new magic was always exciting, and the doctor was both a man of science and of the need for information to be shared (why else would he get a press badge if not to report on things worth reporting on?), so Annalee really, really hoped his plan wasn't just to murder her for science.

[Thanqol]

"Uh, is that a euphemism for killing me? I'm really not up for that right now, thanks but no thanks, back to my studies and hard work, that sort of thing, good night and no thanks. But uh, if you've got some tips on how to do proper astral projection, while remaining alive the entire time, I could maybe be persuaded to help out."

Learning new magic was always exciting, and the doctor was both a man of science and of the need for information to be shared (why else would he get a press badge if not to report on things worth reporting on?), so Annalee really, really hoped his plan wasn't just to murder her for science.

"Astral projection would indeed make a good addition to your skillset," thought Doctor Worm, dissection blades emerging from their carapace. "But right now we must be expedient. The patient's spiritual wellbeing is at risk. Do not worry, this will not hurt a b-"

There is a dramatic gasp as Timothy Crompton returns to the land of the living and - carrying some sort of unknown momentum - falls from the mortuary slab onto the cold stone below. After a tasteful pause, Elodie happens to turn up as well.

Doctor Worm sighed and withdrew their blades. "Delayed reaction. Mildly interesting. Good evening, Ms. Elodie. Behold for I have once again spat in the tyrant eye of your father and all that."

[Anarion]

DRAINED
IGNORANT

Annalee takes a step back from Doctor Worm, then another. She' was about to protest when...suddenly Tim and Elodie showed up. And she was not having it. "Oh, for the devil of...Elodie, were you supposed to do this one? I got your Dad, who was so not into it and then you nearly got me stabbed because you can't handle one regular mortal soul yourself? That is just, like, so pathetic."

[Raz_Fox]

[x]: SECOND PLACE

“I was not,” Elodie says, smoothing out her skirt. “Because all deaths are my Dad’s responsibility. I just happened to find Timmy and get him out before Dad showed up! And, oh, hello, I’m so sorry, it’s nice to meet you again, Doctor Worm!”

Doctor Worm is her favorite staff member! They’re all so nice and interesting and good at keeping people alive! Clearly the bestest. She fishes yet another charm bracelet out of her sweater pocket and hooks it around one of Doctor Worm’s manipulators, bringing the charm bracelet count up to seven.

“Anyway,” she says, oh so sweetly, “you probably deserve to be stabbed!! For being a dumbhead!”

[6 on Shutting Annalee Down, even with the +1 for hitting Ignorant.]

[TheAmishPirate]

[x]: COWARD

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

His return to the land of the living was as jarring as his departure. (And didn't that make sense, in hindsight? Of course he'd been dead. How could he have ever, ever forgotten such a place?) Why, he needed a few moments just to reassure himself he was back, well and truly back. He felt...fuzzy? No, that wasn't it. Slow? Dozy? Out of sorts? Never mind the adjectives, where was he? Whatever was happening?

Timothy peeked over the stone slab at the approaching stormfront. There was Annie, fresh from her run-in with a mine, left alone to die horribly while he escaped (momentarily) clean. There was Elodie, back from the land of the dead, minus the wailing chorus, flaming eyes, and immovable smile. There was Doctor Worm, sorting through a pile of moderately-detonated bones that would soon become a dozen or two cranky students. All of whom would have a vested interest in finding their killer, and reminding them how little they stood for That Sort of Thing.

Timothy decided to get a head start on writing that vivisection report.

[Rolling to Run Away! That's a 6 + 5 + 2 = 13! Get the poor boy out of there!]

[Thanqol]

[x]: SECOND PLACE

“I was not,” Elodie says, smoothing out her skirt. “Because all deaths are my Dad’s responsibility. I just happened to find Timmy and get him out before Dad showed up! And, oh, hello, I’m so sorry, it’s nice to meet you again, Doctor Worm!”

Doctor Worm is her favorite staff member! They’re all so nice and interesting and good at keeping people alive! Clearly the bestest. She fishes yet another charm bracelet out of her sweater pocket and hooks it around one of Doctor Worm’s manipulators, bringing the charm bracelet count up to seven.

“Anyway,” she says, oh so sweetly, “you probably deserve to be stabbed!! For being a dumbhead!”

[6 on Shutting Annalee Down, even with the +1 for hitting Ignorant.]

So Tim, as soon as you come to you're struck by just how... composed Annalee looks. Elodie is flying off the handle, just like she has been all day (or whatever Elodie-adjacent monster psychopomped you through the underworld). Annalee died just as legitimately as you did, but she's already back and back to herself and is dealing with the whole thing like it's nothing at all. You wish you could be that collected.

[Annalee, take a string on Tim]


[x]: COWARD

"aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

His return to the land of the living was as jarring as his departure. (And didn't that make sense, in hindsight? Of course he'd been dead. How could he have ever, ever forgotten such a place?) Why, he needed a few moments just to reassure himself he was back, well and truly back. He felt...fuzzy? No, that wasn't it. Slow? Dozy? Out of sorts? Never mind the adjectives, where was he? Whatever was happening?

Timothy peeked over the stone slab at the approaching stormfront. There was Annie, fresh from her run-in with a mine, left alone to die horribly while he escaped (momentarily) clean. There was Elodie, back from the land of the dead, minus the wailing chorus, flaming eyes, and immovable smile. There was Doctor Worm, sorting through a pile of moderately-detonated bones that would soon become a dozen or two cranky students. All of whom would have a vested interest in finding their killer, and reminding them how little they stood for That Sort of Thing.

Timothy decided to get a head start on writing that vivisection report.

[Rolling to Run Away! That's a 6 + 5 + 2 = 13! Get the poor boy out of there!]

Up! Up the stairs you go! Some might say that running up to the top of a tower is a bad escape route but those people don't have enough experience about what lurks underneath. Up to the top, up the ladder, slamming each door behind you and finally coming out of breath to the very top of Castle Sleepshy.

The sun is out for a change. You have a beautiful view of the sleepy English countryside. Herds of sheep move in the distance like mobile rock formations and small channels of smoke waft above the picturesque little town and its adjacent gardens. Wild horses prance through forests of low shrubs. All of the monsters are locked up below and for a moment you can just catch your breath and process.

[You can clear Coward as a result of this]

[Anarion]

DRAINED
IGNORANT

"Well, Timmy is alive. And gone. What in hell's name did you do to him, Elodie?" Annalee just shakes her head and makes to leave the infirmary. Doctor Worm is lovely, but she is tired and she needs to find a place to sleep that won't get her detention. Or at least a place to be calm for a time. You can tell, Elodie, that Annalee doesn't have quite the same fight in her as earlier. This is more disbelief and resignation, she's not going to go into a game of taunting you or pressing you, she's just exclaiming and making ready to depart.

[Raz_Fox]

[X]: SECOND PLACE

“I didn’t do anything, Annalee,” Elodie retorts at Annalee’s retreating back, realizing too late that that’s exactly what a loser would say. “I just helped him find his way back here, that’s all! Anybody would have done that!!”

Unspoken, but screamed: I’M NOT A PSYCHOPOMP!

[TheAmishPirate]

Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh

Timothy dared to lift his head and peek. Was...was nobody following him? No ghouls after the scent of racing blood? No ghosts to torment an innocent soul? No, nothing at all. The weather was calm. The air was still. It was just...pleasant. A pleasant afternoon.

He didn’t know whether to cry from relief or despair. A normal afternoon - no, a normal few minutes was cause for celebration? Had he really been here that long? Maybe he ought to say he’d only been here that long. Every day was like a year in this dreadful place. How it was possible to fit so much misery in twenty-four hours was beyond him. If it really was twenty-four hours; who knew how monsters tracked the days?

He pulled his legs up to his chest and hugged them tight, absently watching the countryside. The herds of sheep ambled about like ground-bound clouds, drifting this way and that as the shepherds directed. A braver student might’ve taken the opportunity to figure out what this meant for the coming days. Let the countryside occupy his eyes, leaving his brain free to make sense of the last few hours.

Timothy played at finding shapes in the sheep herds (ooh, was that a dog?) rather than do anything as foolish as that. He didn’t need to think about Ge’ldria, because he was never going to join her club anyway, and if he ever saw spiders again he’d turn and run the other way. Nothing but trouble to be had with her, so he’d have nothing to do with her, so there. (That one looks more like a boat.) And while he wasn’t thinking of her, he might as well not be thinking of anything she might’ve done to him too. Or anything he might’ve seen afterwards. Instead, why not think of all the other times he’d seen Elodie? (Was it cheating to say bush? Sheep were practically half-bush to start with…) When he put it like that, he had lots of memories of a normal Elodie, and only one memory of...not that Elodie. And since he would be extra sure and extra careful of his personal safety, he would only ever have the one, while getting more and more of the other, and then the one would never trouble him again. And Annie…

The herds resolved into shapeless blobs. Timothy frowned, and fussed with his glasses.

Well, he had warned her, hadn’t he? Elodie had pulled him away, hadn’t she? And now she was back, right as rain, and he was planning to write the report for their group anyway. She hadn’t said anything. He wouldn’t say anything. Friendship preserved.

...maybe he’d spend a little longer on that report. Just to be safe. Or safer, rather.

Timothy let out a deep sigh, and all the adrenaline escaped out with it, leaving behind a mere, tired mortal. Steady now, Crompton. Don’t let it get to you. He told himself. After all, he wouldn’t be here much longer. He was a good student. He didn’t break the rules. He hadn’t done anything wrong. Soon they’d realize their mistake, he’d be let go, and then he could go back home where life made sense. Where nightmares kept to movie screens and ghost stories, and mortal peril never entered into the equation. Back to school, back on track, back to a simple, pleasant life.

Had Timothy read the right sort of books, or had been as wise as he thought he was, he would’ve recognized the aching wish in his heart as a danger far more deadly than any he’d faced that day. But he was tired, he was scared, and - worst of all - he was alone. Desire took root, blossomed into thought…

If only I had just a scrap of that life here…

...and his doom was sealed.

[Elanorin]

******************* INTERMISSION OVER **************************

Let me bring you back to that very specific night, up in the highest room, of the tallest tower of our school.

It's still middle of the night and the loud and disturbing noises of the angel's warpath still echoes through the stone halls and corridors from the other side of the castle. It's still reassuringly far away but everyone here know it can take a rapid turn at any moment.

Outside it has started to rain but the windows in here are little more than glazed arrowslits so the gentle tapping of the rain can barely be heard over the echoing shrieks and the rolling thunder of crashing furniture against ancient stone walls. The lit fireplace holds the chill out and together with the scavenged furniture that's found its way here from across the castle it's a dimly lit, warm and almost inviting hiding place. The armchairs are soft and overstuffed, candles flicker on the walls, the kind of room perfect for curling up and catching a healthy snooze.

There's just that tiny little issue of the cost of said nap.

Samael's eyes are still fixed on Timothy as the human edges back and away from him, clutching bedding, blankets, pillows and hells, is that a stuffed bunny ear peeking out amidst it all? A little blood, was it really such a tall ask for access to the room Samael had found, cleared out and furnished all on his own? The vampire certainly didn't think so. Still, there was more at stake here than just blood, and the human seemed to be getting wise to it and Samael was winning.

That is, until his control of the moment began to waver because of a sudden and incessant banging on the door.

With a barely stifled snarl Samael gave up on trying to wait out an agreement from Timothy and was quickly by the door and yanked it open. He set one hand on each of the sides of the door opening to block the way inside.

"Get. Out." Samael's voice was low but made no attempt whatsoever at hiding his anger other than keeping it down.

[Anarion]

CREEP

"Sure, sure" Annalee nods from behind the banging of her extremely foolhardy and brutish companion. Bless her, Alexstralia was trying. Annalee could have just left her to Samael's mercy, part of her was tempted to just turn around. But, the fire felt warm even from the door, and this was a situation that could be negotiated. Also...was that Timothy in here?

Annalee, far from backing away as she said nodded in agreement with Samael instead got up on her tiptoes to look over his shoulder. That was little Timmy. No obvious bloodstains either, and...was that a stuffed rabbit ear? Oh gosh that was unfairly cute.
[Tim, I demand that you roll to turn Annalee on in your next post. Take +1 for her condition.]

The thing was that Samael could be negotiated with. Not with her blood obviously, but she had a dumb brutish friend. "Sammy, always a pleasure." Annalee gives him a little bow. "My new friend Alex and I were just looking for a place to stay the night and Alex suggested that this would be the perfect place for us to rest. Now, I know you wouldn't just offer something like that for free, but since Alex wanted to come here, I am confident that she is prepared to pay the toll on our behalf, and I would be honored to spend the night together."

[TheAmishPirate]

Samael's eyes are still fixed on Timothy as the human edges back and away from him, clutching bedding, blankets, pillows and hells, is that a stuffed bunny ear peeking out amidst it all?

You leave Hieronymus B'Gosh out of this!


A little blood, was it really such a tall ask for access to the room Samael had found, cleared out and furnished all on his own? The vampire certainly didn't think so. Still, there was more at stake here than just blood, and the human seemed to be getting wise to it and Samael was winning.

That is, until his control of the moment began to waver because of a sudden and incessant banging on the door.

With a barely stifled snarl Samael gave up on trying to wait out an agreement from Timothy and was quickly by the door and yanked it open. He set one hand on each of the sides of the door opening to block the way inside.

"Get. Out." Samael's voice was low but made no attempt whatsoever at hiding his anger other than keeping it down.

Generally speaking, “what on earth am I even doing here?!” is a question that ought to have been asked before the vampire decided to block the only exit.

Unless…

He hadn’t taken a good look out those windows yet, had he? True, the height might prove treacherous, but you know what they say; any port in a vampire storm. Just an oh-so-casual walk to the windows, and then - whoops! Dropped his spare handkerchief, one moment...


CREEP

"Sure, sure" Annalee nods from behind the banging of her extremely foolhardy and brutish companion. Bless her, Alexstralia was trying. Annalee could have just left her to Samael's mercy, part of her was tempted to just turn around. But, the fire felt warm even from the door, and this was a situation that could be negotiated. Also...was that Timothy in here?

Annalee, far from backing away as she said nodded in agreement with Samael instead got up on her tiptoes to look over his shoulder. That was little Timmy. No obvious bloodstains either, and...was that a stuffed rabbit ear? Oh gosh that was unfairly cute.
[Tim, I demand that you roll to turn Annalee on in your next post. Take +1 for her condition.]

However Timothy wound up in Sleepyshine Rise, a full wardrobe of his school uniforms wound up here with him. A wardrobe that he keeps fastidiously tidy at all times. (Perhaps he’s trying to get let out early for good dress code behaviour?) While this makes him look a tad ridiculous amongst his fellow students, the fact remains that Timothy Oglevee Crompton is one of the best-dressed individuals at Sleepyshine Rise. And a well-tailored set of clothes accentuates one’s natural qualities does it not? Our Timmy is no werewolf linebacker, but a lifetime of vigorous constitutionals and temperate teatimes has done him no little harm. Not to mention all the running he’s gotten to do recently.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, the simple arithmetic of these facts means that when Timothy bent over to retrieve his handkerchief, Annalee may well realize that she could have missed some crucial features on this boy when she observed him in a dark, cramped broom closet. Features that may well warrant another look. Or five. And a cozy inspection at a later date.

[Rolling to Turn Annalee On: 5 + 5 + 0 = 10. Timmy takes a string on Annalee.]

Now then; a discreet peep through the windows. What does he see? Might there be another safe (or at the least, safer) way out of this room?

[Thanqol]

Elodie!


"We are in a perilous supernatural environment with danger lurking behind every tree and shadow," said Carmen. "No doubt this is some sphere of the Darkling Lands where the Witch intended to dispose of us. Don't worry - I have been trained for this. I promise to keep you safe and slay whatever monster dwells at the heart of this evil realm."

Anyway, so Carmen is now in the shape of a pig, squealing wildly while trussed by all four trotters. Really she did pretty well, all things considered.

"Elodie, dearest! You've come to visit your auntie - oh, what a good niece you are!" Auntie Circe is kind of a lot. "I'm so glad to hear that you finally agreed to go to a proper school! The Angel of Sleepshy is such a darling, isn't he? I've always said that you just needed to be in an environment where you could get over your silly shyness about the supernatural, and I was right! Look at you! You're flourishing!" She cooed. "Tell you what, I'll go ahead and bake a lovely pork roast, and while that's cooking you can show me everything you've learned about being a psychopomp!"



The thing was that Samael could be negotiated with. Not with her blood obviously, but she had a dumb brutish friend. "Sammy, always a pleasure." Annalee gives him a little bow. "My new friend Alex and I were just looking for a place to stay the night and Alex suggested that this would be the perfect place for us to rest. Now, I know you wouldn't just offer something like that for free, but since Alex wanted to come here, I am confident that she is prepared to pay the toll on our behalf, and I would be honored to spend the night together."

"Pay?" Alex sniffed. "Please. I am the queen of darkness, little vampire, and you are in my way. Go find a coffin or whatever."

It's not often someone looks at you with such a oblivious lack of fear. Most people at least have instincts to tell them when they're making a mistake but Alextralia seems uniquely capable of ignoring those.


Now then; a discreet peep through the windows. What does he see? Might there be another safe (or at the least, safer) way out of this room?

Not down... but up? There is a strange glowing light coming from Elodie's tower. Too steady and warm to be firelight - is that sunlight coming from inside that window?

[Anarion]

Why am I telling you all this? Well, the simple arithmetic of these facts means that when Timothy bent over to retrieve his handkerchief, Annalee may well realize that she could have missed some crucial features on this boy when she observed him in a dark, cramped broom closet. Features that may well warrant another look. Or five. And a cozy inspection at a later date.




"Pay?" Alex sniffed. "Please. I am the queen of darkness, little vampire, and you are in my way. Go find a coffin or whatever."

It's not often someone looks at you with such a oblivious lack of fear. Most people at least have instincts to tell them when they're making a mistake but Alextralia seems uniquely capable of ignoring those.


CREEP

Annalee probably could have helped smooth things over here, but she was too busy staring over Samael's shoulder. The light from the hallway highlighted a gorgeous figure, and shimmered in his eyes. They were so timid, like the little rabbit he was carrying, but so alluring and Annalee couldn't seem to take her gaze off them. She tried to shake her head, she was better than this, what was even special about stupid little Timmy except for those stupid, bright, shimmering eyes, so big and full that you could drown in them? Ugh, she shifted back, tried to focus on something else, Alex was saying something idiotic probably, but what had it been? She tried not to blush or make it obvious that she hadn't been paying attention, although Samael had eyes so that was pretty doubtful. She'd just have to see what happened and try to pick up the thread from there.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE

You’d think Elodie would be full of indignation and spitting metaphorical fire at being babied like this, being condescended to, and being told she was going to have a lovely Carmen roast. That’s the sort of thing that gets under your skin, after all!

But there’s two things you very much need to consider. Well, technically three, but the giant plush chair threatening to swallow her inside the cushions whenever she shifts, inhabited by ant-sized lost civilizations, is barely worth a footnote.

The first is that Circe is a nigh-immortal mistress of transformation, and concepts like “bodily autonomy” passed her right by. Good if, say, you’re having a bad acne day and want Auntie Circe to wave her wand and whoosh it all away. Bad if she decides that babies don’t have acne, or for that matter cats don’t have acne either, or if she wants you to escort Cousin Alecto to a party as a gentleman, or if she decides that you can’t talk back as an opossum, or for that matter without a mouth at all...

Auntie Circe is the scariest person who never gets angry. She just fixes problems as soon as they come up.

The second is that it’s hard to be indignant while your cheeks are being enthusiastically squished and your head is being pat. And your kitten ears are being scritched and oh my gosh that’s so niiiiiiice Auntie thank you.

But if she doesn’t try to intervene, she’ll be dooming Carmen! She’ll be just another monster! So she has to try!

“A-actually,” she says, shifting in her seat and destroying an entire city beneath the cushions in a cataclysm, “I’m on a very strict diet, Auntie!” Here it comes. The perfect lie.

“I... can only eat carnivorous plants!”

wow

“Because... they process the meat... it’s so good for your skin and your digestive system, not to mention your abs... that’s why I’m a carnovegetarian now!”

She beams her most innocent little niece smile. “So let’s go out to the greenhouse and pick some? I know you’ve got some delicious Aegean Piranhas that must be ripe!”

[Elanorin]

"Pay?" Alex sniffed. "Please. I am the queen of darkness, little vampire, and you are in my way. Go find a coffin or whatever."

It's not often someone looks at you with such a oblivious lack of fear. Most people at least have instincts to tell them when they're making a mistake but Alextralia seems uniquely capable of ignoring those.


Samael bowed, with all the formality and crisp respect of one who placed great value in such gestures and knew how to do them flawlessly. Still, he did it without moving from blocking the door. When he rose again he fixed his eyes on hers and smiled a smile full of awe and adoration. His eyes shone and as he spoke his voice was soft yet excited.

"My apologies, Your Majesty, I did not realise it was You. I don't believe I have had the honour of speaking with you." He took a tiny step closer, just enough to enter her personal space. "I was just marking the Going Bump In The Night papers and yours had some truly inspiring insights. It stands out from the crowd and now I can see why. The Queen of Darkness herself. It's such a shame you didn't have time to proofread the last few pages or I am certain it would have been a top mark paper befit to your reputation. A top mark, as you know, gives you a free pass from the next assignment and if ever there was one deserving of it.... Say... I do not need to submit the markings to the faculty until... hm, oh yes, four hours from now so... since it's You... I'll hold yours off until the last minute as I'm sure you'd wish to resubmit the perfection that your name deserves."

[Rolling Hypnotic on Alextralia: 4+5+2=11 I ask that she go and obsess over her paper for the next four hours]

[TheAmishPirate]

Not down... but up? There is a strange glowing light coming from Elodie's tower. Too steady and warm to be firelight - is that sunlight coming from inside that window?

Which was better: An evening with Elodie in the sunshine, or an evening locked up with a vampire, Annie, and - was that a demon?!

Right. That did it. As soon as Samael stepped out to speak with his guests, Timothy bundled up his things, opened the window as quietly as he could, and scrambled up the roof to Elodie’s tower.

[Rolling to Run Away: 1 + 5 + 2 = 8 Choosing to leave something behind.]

He could be excused, in his flustered haste, for a few minor lapses in caution. It was his first time tying up a bindle, how could he be expected to perfectly tie one so big as this? Nor would it be fair to demand he perfectly survey the room as he left, not while he was so focused on keeping his footing. Ergo, it should not be held against him that as he left the premises, his little rabbit remained behind.

Do you hear that, Samael? Not held against him! As a junior faculty member, it is your sworn duty to set a good example for the students, and return it to him at your earliest convenience. You know how important it was to him. After all, as he flew from the Angel’s perilous terror, he couldn't bear to leave it behind. You know he’s going to miss it. You know where his bedroom is. You know you’re bound to see him eventually. So you haven’t a single excuse!

I do hope you will do the right thing.

[Thanqol]

“A-actually,” she says, shifting in her seat and destroying an entire city beneath the cushions in a cataclysm, “I’m on a very strict diet, Auntie!” Here it comes. The perfect lie.

“I... can only eat carnivorous plants!”

wow

“Because... they process the meat... it’s so good for your skin and your digestive system, not to mention your abs... that’s why I’m a carnovegetarian now!”

She beams her most innocent little niece smile. “So let’s go out to the greenhouse and pick some? I know you’ve got some delicious Aegean Piranhas that must be ripe!”

"Oh, aren't you a little angel!" said Auntie Circe delightedly. "You know, when I was your age I didn't spare even a passing thought to taking care of my skin? I just ran around in the sun like it was my job! Oh, but times were different then and we didn't know any better..." she snapped her fingers and the spit the poor pig was dangling from began walking of its own accord, carrying the squealing Carmen along behind you.


Do you hear that, Samael? Not held against him! As a junior faculty member, it is your sworn duty to set a good example for the students, and return it to him at your earliest convenience. You know how important it was to him. After all, as he flew from the Angel’s perilous terror, he couldn't bear to leave it behind. You know he’s going to miss it. You know where his bedroom is. You know you’re bound to see him eventually. So you haven’t a single excuse!

I do hope you will do the right thing.

Elodie has, in fact, left a portal open. To a beautiful glittering sun-kissed beach with a big grand mansion and a marvellous greenhouse and beautiful ocean breeze and, oh! Is this paradise? And look, that's Elodie right over there, alongside a tall and absolutely charming looking older woman, and there are no monsters or vampires or demons here at all. You made the right decision for once, Tim!


Samael bowed, with all the formality and crisp respect of one who placed great value in such gestures and knew how to do them flawlessly. Still, he did it without moving from blocking the door. When he rose again he fixed his eyes on hers and smiled a smile full of awe and adoration. His eyes shone and as he spoke his voice was soft yet excited.

"My apologies, Your Majesty, I did not realise it was You. I don't believe I have had the honour of speaking with you." He took a tiny step closer, just enough to enter her personal space. "I was just marking the Going Bump In The Night papers and yours had some truly inspiring insights. It stands out from the crowd and now I can see why. The Queen of Darkness herself. It's such a shame you didn't have time to proofread the last few pages or I am certain it would have been a top mark paper befit to your reputation. A top mark, as you know, gives you a free pass from the next assignment and if ever there was one deserving of it.... Say... I do not need to submit the markings to the faculty until... hm, oh yes, four hours from now so... since it's You... I'll hold yours off until the last minute as I'm sure you'd wish to resubmit the perfection that your name deserves."

[Rolling Hypnotic on Alextralia: 4+5+2=11 I ask that she go and obsess over her paper for the next four hours]

"You are right," said the Queen of Darkness, drowning in your eyes. "I deserve this. I must only accept perfection. I will find the time."

And on a heel she turns and leaves, pushing Annalee to one side as she goes, muttering constantly under her breath.

[Anarion]

CREEP

Annalee looks at Alex walking off, back at Samael, at Timmy leaving through the window and dropping his rabbit. Then she grins.

"Well, it seems you've lost the smoky barbecue flavor, and your original little snack, Sammy, unless you like stuffing on your fangs. I do try to be less unreasonable than the rest of these idiots though. What's the price to let me keep the rabbit and have a night's stay in your lovely rooms?"

[TheAmishPirate]

Elodie has, in fact, left a portal open. To a beautiful glittering sun-kissed beach with a big grand mansion and a marvellous greenhouse and beautiful ocean breeze and, oh! Is this paradise?

Now. Timothy knew that leaving school grounds was forbidden. But this was like knowing you had ten toes. Sure, the knowledge existed in your head, but until practical difficulties thrust it to the fore, were you really aware of it?

And speaking of toes, letting his sink into that lovely, warm sand was doing wonders for his nerves.


And look, that's Elodie right over there, alongside a tall and absolutely charming looking older woman, and there are no monsters or vampires or demons here at all. You made the right decision for once, Tim!

Ah, wonderful! He’d been a little concerned when Elodie wasn’t in her room - after all, he had just barged in - but he needn’t have worried about a thing. Now then; what kind of Crompton would he be if he let a measly school full of unspeakable horrors drive the manners right from his head? Wiggling free of the sand, he gave a loud, completely unignorable “Halloa!” to the two of them, waving cordially as he made his approach.

Won’t you introduce him, Elodie?

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE

Oh no this is the worst maybe if she stands in front of Auntie and jumps a lot she won’t see him— no he’s yelling, umph, this dumb hot boy is going to be the death of her. He’s so innocent! And sweet! And full of life which he desperately does not want to let go of!

“Auntie this is my friend Timmy and he is fine just as he is so please don’t turn him into a pig also hello Timmy I’m sure you were just about to leave the homework you wanted to copy is under my pillow love you too!”

oh gosh oh no

[Turn Timothy On with a blurted “Love you too”: 8.]

[Elanorin]

"You are right," said the Queen of Darkness, drowning in your eyes. "I deserve this. I must only accept perfection. I will find the time."

And on a heel she turns and leaves, pushing Annalee to one side as she goes, muttering constantly under her breath.


CREEP

Annalee looks at Alex walking off, back at Samael, at Timmy leaving through the window and dropping his rabbit. Then she grins.

"Well, it seems you've lost the smoky barbecue flavor, and your original little snack, Sammy, unless you like stuffing on your fangs. I do try to be less unreasonable than the rest of these idiots though. What's the price to let me keep the rabbit and have a night's stay in your lovely rooms?"

'Sammy'.

Samael flinched a little at hearing the unauthorised nickname.

"Miss Sokolov," Samael began as he turned towards her. His smile a little less radiant and his eyes a lot less sparkling. "My students call me Mr Hale. My... donors call me Samael. My lovers call me Sam. I am eager to learn which group you wish to assign yourself to."

He looked back over his shoulder just in time to catch the very last glimpse of a blanket disappearing out the window, and to see the goddamn stuffed bunny on the floor. Samael Hale swore out loud and stepped away from blocking the door and back inside the room leaving Annalee free to come inside should she wish. He angrily snatched the bunny from the floor. He wanted to rip it to shreds.

"This? You want this? Why?" he held the offending fluff in the air and gave the girl by the door an uncomprehending look.

[TheAmishPirate]

SECOND PLACE

Oh no this is the worst maybe if she stands in front of Auntie and jumps a lot she won’t see him— no he’s yelling, umph, this dumb hot boy is going to be the death of her. He’s so innocent! And sweet! And full of life which he desperately does not want to let go of!

“Auntie this is my friend Timmy and he is fine just as he is so please don’t turn him into a pig also hello Timmy I’m sure you were just about to leave the homework you wanted to copy is under my pillow love you too!”

oh gosh oh no

[Turn Timothy On with a blurted “Love you too”: 8.]

Oh! That’s…that’s quite a lot to unpack, isn’t it? Starting with the bit about a pig. And turning into-

What’s that? Everybody’s looking at him? He needs to say something right now?

…you mean right now, right now?

Right now, as in not later, certainly not some other time, and most definitely not “I’ll get right on it”?

But now?

“Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…thank you? A…pleasure to see you too?”

Well, what did you expect?! You demanded an answer long before the protocols had ever been established for "beautiful girl says 'love' to you on a beach!" We had to go with the closest fit! There was no choice! I don’t recall! I’m innocent! I plead the fifth!

Oh, botheration…

[Elodie, your blurted power play has bamboozled the boy. Take yet another String on him.]

“I’m…terribly sorry, I believe I’ve accidentally intruded upon something. Never meant to disrupt a private family function. Truly, my apologies ma’am.” A stiff, formulaic bow to her aunt. A stiff, polite wave to her. Oh, dandy-muffins, the sun was baking his cheeks to a bright red crisp, wasn’t it? “I’ll just. Go back the way I came. Do carry on. Won’t trouble you any more.”

He took a little step back. The first of many. And one that most assuredly wasn’t about to be interrupted by anything.

[Anarion]

unauthorised nickname.


The best kind of nickname.



"Miss Sokolov," Samael began as he turned towards her. His smile a little less radiant and his eyes a lot less sparkling. "My students call me Mr Hale. My... donors call me Samael. My lovers call me Sam. I am eager to learn which group you wish to assign yourself to."

He looked back over his shoulder just in time to catch the very last glimpse of a blanket disappearing out the window, and to see the goddamn stuffed bunny on the floor. Samael Hale swore out loud and stepped away from blocking the door and back inside the room leaving Annalee free to come inside should she wish. He angrily snatched the bunny from the floor. He wanted to rip it to shreds.

"This? You want this? Why?" he held the offending fluff in the air and gave the girl by the door an uncomprehending look.

"It's intimately connected to our dear little Timmy" Annalee says, walking in and warming herself by the fire.

"And I can do some things with intimate connections. Say, perhaps you'd be interested in punishing Timmy for his disobedience tonight. I could make that happen for you with that little rabbit. Of course, I'd want some compensation for such hard work. That could be my price for staying the night, if you'd like...Sam."

[Thanqol]

SECOND PLACE

Oh no this is the worst maybe if she stands in front of Auntie and jumps a lot she won’t see him— no he’s yelling, umph, this dumb hot boy is going to be the death of her. He’s so innocent! And sweet! And full of life which he desperately does not want to let go of!

“Auntie this is my friend Timmy and he is fine just as he is so please don’t turn him into a pig also hello Timmy I’m sure you were just about to leave the homework you wanted to copy is under my pillow love you too!”

oh gosh oh no

[Turn Timothy On with a blurted “Love you too”: 8.]


“I’m…terribly sorry, I believe I’ve accidentally intruded upon something. Never meant to disrupt a private family function. Truly, my apologies ma’am.” A stiff, formulaic bow to her aunt. A stiff, polite wave to her. Oh, dandy-muffins, the sun was baking his cheeks to a bright red crisp, wasn’t it? “I’ll just. Go back the way I came. Do carry on. Won’t trouble you any more.”

He took a little step back. The first of many. And one that most assuredly wasn’t about to be interrupted by anything.

That step backwards, Timothy, was actually a step forwards. On account of the entire lower half of your body being reversed. Your backwards walking is actually forwards walking and it takes you at a steady gait right up to below the shining smile and glowing eyes of Auntie Circe and oh my haven't things got awfully dark for a sunny day at the beach?

"Oh, you must be Elodie's friend?" she says with a smile that hasn't yet made up its mind about how threatening it needs to be - and so is erring on the side of very just to be safe. "It is so nice to see her getting to know psychopomps her age, isn't it? Forgive me, I can't exactly place you - are you one of Anubis'? Or perhaps you're from outside our little world and are perhaps a demon king or werewolf prince or something along those lines? You know, the kind of person who would be a good match for my darling precious fragile niece?"

[Elanorin]

"It's intimately connected to our dear little Timmy" Annalee says, walking in and warming herself by the fire.

"And I can do some things with intimate connections. Say, perhaps you'd be interested in punishing Timmy for his disobedience tonight. I could make that happen for you with that little rabbit. Of course, I'd want some compensation for such hard work. That could be my price for staying the night, if you'd like...Sam."

Samael simmers down quickly upon hearing that your motives here are of the manipulative kind as opposed to some weird and sickening affection-type stuff. He approves. Wholeheartedly.

I can totally see why you two got on well when you met previously, you talk Mr Hale's language, and you talk it fluently, Miss Sokolov.

Another smile spreads on his face, but thisone is more thoughtful, more importantly it's for you this time. He steps a few easy steps in your direction as he considers the fluffbunny in his hand and its potential.

"You certainly know how to make an offer hard to refuse... Ana." He holds up the bunny in the narrow space between you, free for you to take. "Just one amendment... let me watch." His eyes fall to your lips.

"I want to see you work your magic."

[Rolling to Turn Annalee On: 3+4+2=9]

[TheAmishPirate]

That step backwards, Timothy, was actually a step forwards. On account of the entire lower half of your body being reversed. Your backwards walking is actually forwards walking and it takes you at a steady gait right up to below the shining smile and glowing eyes of Auntie Circe and oh my haven't things got awfully dark for a sunny day at the beach?

I believe he specifically requested time to sort out this business? This was unimaginably rude and unfair?!


"Oh, you must be Elodie's friend?" she says with a smile that hasn't yet made up its mind about how threatening it needs to be - and so is erring on the side of very just to be safe. "It is so nice to see her getting to know psychopomps her age, isn't it? Forgive me, I can't exactly place you - are you one of Anubis'? Or perhaps you're from outside our little world and are perhaps a demon king or werewolf prince or something along those lines? You know, the kind of person who would be a good match for my darling precious fragile niece?"

And so, Timothy found himself in a familiar position; knowing just enough to recognize he was in terrible danger, but not quite enough to know the way out. Fortunately, he had a lifetime of practice as the picture of meek respectibility, which comes in handy when babbling out the first thoughts to enter your head.

"Oh, no, no ma'am. I-I'm afraid I'm quite outside those circles, so we must never have met before. Timothy Oglevee Crompton - of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons - normal human. A pleasure to meet you, ma'am." He offered a hand to shake. "Please, r-rest assured, I would never dream of having, erhm, d-disreputable intentions towards your neice."

Perfect manners. Flawless testimony. Situation: Handled.

[Anarion]

"I want to see you work your magic."

[Rolling to Turn Annalee On: 3+4+2=9]

If Samael Hale wants to watch, he gets to watch. Annalee finds it easy to just nod right along when he asks. Of course, she's staying in his room and he's being so hospitable. Plus, that smile was just so disarming, so cute. It made her heart just want to melt, a smile just for her. Annalee didn't get many of those, a short heavy girl with a slight Russian accent and all that. It was nice, was all.

The ritual isn't a ton to look at. Lacking any chalk, Annalee uses scrapings from her soap to draw a proper magic circle. She doesn't really go in for pentagrams, she goes more for the style of triangles criss-crossing within a big circle. Nothing as fancy as what you see in anime, but it's got some geometry going. She places the bunny at the center of the circle and begins chanting in tongues. The room seems to grow darker. Her eyes are covered with a grey film, her hands seem to glow with the light that's draining from the room, gleaming brighter than the fire. The darkness in the room centers on the bunny, creeps deeply into it. And then Annalee holds her chant for a moment, the ritual almost at its apex and asks Samael what he'd like. "What kind of revenge would you like? All his hair falls out? Wets his pants in class? Sudden nosebleed? Maybe his teeth start falling out or a really bad and uncomfortable rash? Or I could make him completely unable to lie until the spell gets reversed. Your choice."

[Rolled whatever Hex Samael chooses. 5+6+1=12. It goes off correctly and can easily be reversed if I so desire.]

[Elanorin]

If Samael Hale wants to watch, he gets to watch. Annalee finds it easy to just nod right along when he asks. Of course, she's staying in his room and he's being so hospitable. Plus, that smile was just so disarming, so cute. It made her heart just want to melt, a smile just for her. Annalee didn't get many of those, a short heavy girl with a slight Russian accent and all that. It was nice, was all.

The ritual isn't a ton to look at. Lacking any chalk, Annalee uses scrapings from her soap to draw a proper magic circle. She doesn't really go in for pentagrams, she goes more for the style of triangles criss-crossing within a big circle. Nothing as fancy as what you see in anime, but it's got some geometry going. She places the bunny at the center of the circle and begins chanting in tongues. The room seems to grow darker. Her eyes are covered with a grey film, her hands seem to glow with the light that's draining from the room, gleaming brighter than the fire. The darkness in the room centers on the bunny, creeps deeply into it. And then Annalee holds her chant for a moment, the ritual almost at its apex and asks Samael what he'd like. "What kind of revenge would you like? All his hair falls out? Wets his pants in class? Sudden nosebleed? Maybe his teeth start falling out or a really bad and uncomfortable rash? Or I could make him completely unable to lie until the spell gets reversed. Your choice."

[Rolled whatever Hex Samael chooses. 5+6+1=12. It goes off correctly and can easily be reversed if I so desire.]

Samael kept well back, but sat comfortably in one of the overstuffed armchairs, turned to face Annalee, while still enjoying some of the warmth radiating from the fire. He held a half-empty glass in one hand and was sat leaning back with one leg hooked over an armrest, as relaxed as he was, his eyes were bright with fascination and he watched her every move intently. It was a rare privilege to watch a witch at work.

He took a moment, and a sip, to consider his choices. While maximum humiliation was tempting it could be a shortlived victory. Timothy had just the kind of helpless naivity that Samael knew could get him much too much sympathy among some of the less hopeless cases here. He wanted to make him think of him the moment the curse took effect. To mar him in a way that hopefully might even make him an outcast, so that he'd have no choice but to come crawling back to him. What did humans associate with Vampires?

He almost immediately ruled out forcing him to tell the truth, Samael could not see the bumbling boy being able to lie even without a curse on him, it would be a waste of Annalee's talent and efforts, not to mention his deal.

"His teeth," Samael whispered from his chair, not wanting to break the heavy mystical ambiance in the room that the darkness of her magic had wrought, and his eyes glittered in the faint firelight.

Yes.

His teeth would do nicely.

[Raz_Fox]

"hahahahahaha," Elodie simpers desperately. "Oh, Timothy, you're such a kidder, trying to pull one over on Auntie Circe like that, like she wouldn't turn a normal human into a pig and eat them for dinner just like that!" She snaps her fingers for emphasis, grinning like a dry skull. And isn't that something of a reminder of what exactly she is, Timmy me boy? "Now, go on, stop being silly and tell Auntie the— tooth!!!"

OH GROSS GROSS GROSS ewwwwwww no teeth aren't supposed to bend at those angles! ugh, how can you have an underbite and an overbite at the same time??? Elodie spins around and dry heaves, trying desperately not to lose her lunch. Sure, she can hear her Auntie suggest eating somebody, no problem, because she can do something about stopping that, but she can't do anything about teeth! And those teeth are so gross! EWWWWWW!!!

[Shutting Timmy Down by nearly vomiting over how gross he looks. Sorry, Timmy. Double sorry because, unfortunately for all of us, it's a 6.]

[Thanqol]

And so, Timothy found himself in a familiar position; knowing just enough to recognize he was in terrible danger, but not quite enough to know the way out. Fortunately, he had a lifetime of practice as the picture of meek respectibility, which comes in handy when babbling out the first thoughts to enter your head.

"Oh, no, no ma'am. I-I'm afraid I'm quite outside those circles, so we must never have met before. Timothy Oglevee Crompton - of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons - normal human. A pleasure to meet you, ma'am." He offered a hand to shake. "Please, r-rest assured, I would never dream of having, erhm, d-disreputable intentions towards your neice."

Perfect manners. Flawless testimony. Situation: Handled.

Auntie Circe's smile fades with every passing word. It's not transitioning into anger or disappointment, oh no. That's the expression of a lady wondering if she's got room in the freezer for another pork roast. She's just about to open her mouth to say something when -


"hahahahahaha," Elodie simpers desperately. "Oh, Timothy, you're such a kidder, trying to pull one over on Auntie Circe like that, like she wouldn't turn a normal human into a pig and eat them for dinner just like that!" She snaps her fingers for emphasis, grinning like a dry skull. And isn't that something of a reminder of what exactly she is, Timmy me boy? "Now, go on, stop being silly and tell Auntie the— tooth!!!"

OH GROSS GROSS GROSS ewwwwwww no teeth aren't supposed to bend at those angles! ugh, how can you have an underbite and an overbite at the same time??? Elodie spins around and dry heaves, trying desperately not to lose her lunch. Sure, she can hear her Auntie suggest eating somebody, no problem, because she can do something about stopping that, but she can't do anything about teeth! And those teeth are so gross! EWWWWWW!!!

[Shutting Timmy Down by nearly vomiting over how gross he looks. Sorry, Timmy. Double sorry because, unfortunately for all of us, it's a 6.]

- suddenly that smile comes back, and everything is sunbeams and rainbows. "Oh, Elodie, darling! I am so impressed with you!" she pinches your adorable whiskered cheeks. "You're dating a goblin! I mean, he's not exactly Fenris, but even baby steps are worth being proud of! Oh, where's my camera? I'd forget my own head if it wasn't microchipped..."

She gives up and transforms a passing crab into an old-fashioned flash camera. "You know, it would be an adorable picture if I could get a shot of you two cuddling! One for the scrapbook!"

[TheAmishPirate]

Auntie Circe's smile fades with every passing word. It's not transitioning into anger or disappointment, oh no. That's the expression of a lady wondering if she's got room in the freezer for another pork roast. She's just about to open her mouth to say something when -

See? Evil smile defused, problem solved, everything turned out alright!


"hahahahahaha," Elodie simpers desperately. "Oh, Timothy, you're such a kidder, trying to pull one over on Auntie Circe like that, like she wouldn't turn a normal human into a pig and eat them for dinner just like that!" She snaps her fingers for emphasis, grinning like a dry skull. And isn't that something of a reminder of what exactly she is, Timmy me boy? "Now, go on, stop being silly and tell Auntie the— tooth!!!"

OH GROSS GROSS GROSS ewwwwwww no teeth aren't supposed to bend at those angles! ugh, how can you have an underbite and an overbite at the same time??? Elodie spins around and dry heaves, trying desperately not to lose her lunch. Sure, she can hear her Auntie suggest eating somebody, no problem, because she can do something about stopping that, but she can't do anything about teeth! And those teeth are so gross! EWWWWWW!!!

[Shutting Timmy Down by nearly vomiting over how gross he looks. Sorry, Timmy. Double sorry because, unfortunately for all of us, it's a 6.]

OH GOSH

OH IT'S WRONG

OH THEY'RE ALL WRONG

OH NO WHAT DID SHE DO TO HIS TEETH


- suddenly that smile comes back, and everything is sunbeams and rainbows. "Oh, Elodie, darling! I am so impressed with you!" she pinches your adorable whiskered cheeks. "You're dating a goblin! I mean, he's not exactly Fenris, but even baby steps are worth being proud of! Oh, where's my camera? I'd forget my own head if it wasn't microchipped..."

OH NO SHE DIDN'T DO ANYTHING TO HIS TEETH

While she searched for a camera, Timothy joined his classmate in some mutual dry-heavings. Which, unfortunately for the both of them, could be construed as an exotic Goblin dialect, if you were listening for it.


She gives up and transforms a passing crab into an old-fashioned flash camera. "You know, it would be an adorable picture if I could get a shot of you two cuddling! One for the scrapbook!"

But perhaps more unfortunately, what came next could not be construed as an exotic Goblin dialect, even if you were listening for it.

"No. I don't know." Timothy spat through mangled jaws. "I don't know what would begin to be adorable about shoving two people together like emotionless dolls, and documenting their passionless embrace for all time. I'll not do it. You won't get a shot of it. And what's more, if that is a sampling of what you consider worthy of your scrapbook, then I'm afraid I shouldn't ever want to read it. Not now, not ever, not even if you invited me in for tea!"

Timothy had had quite enough of this tomfoolery, and enough raw fury to momentarily eclipse his misery and terror.

[Rolling to Shut Someone Down: 6 + 5 + 1 = 12 If it's possible, Timothy would like to gain a String on Circe.]

[Anarion]

When the ritual is done, Annalee gives Samael a thumbs up. It totally worked, and the spell is at her command. Unless something else intervened, Sam would get to see the fruits of their labor tomorrow, and might already start hearing all about it depending on the quality of his rumor mill.

Annalee couldn't suppress a yawn though. A big magic working like that was exhausting, the last few days had been exhausting, and hanging out with Alexstralia was its own very special kind of exhausting. Her price for the night paid and her energy spent, she made to curl up on her pillow near the fire. She's at your mercy Samael, if you want her, but then again, maybe you're ready to hit the hay as well.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE

Elodie’s hands fly to her mouth in sheer, unbridled horror. Oh gosh goodness golly no!!! You can’t speak to Auntie that way! She’ll turn you into a garden gnome!

Frantically, she does the only thing she can think of doing: she releases Carmen the Pig and gives her a smack on the haunches to get her going. Nothing says “distraction” like a freshly released pig!

This done, she— she—

She can’t even touch his hand! The very thought makes her skin crawl and her stomach contract into the tiniest little plum pit you’ve ever seen.

“Sorry to cut it short Auntie but I just remembered we have to finish our Fundamentals of Good Hygiene homework!!” This paltry excuse given, she bolts and prays that Timmy has the common sense to run along with her.

[Thanqol]

It is a dark and stormy night on Sleepshy Rise.

Samael! You have been called upon by the angel to run detention for Annalee, Elodie, and Timothy. Annalee for dying without permission, Elodie for leaving the walls of Sleepshy Rise, and Timothy for both. You also have two other miscreants to reform - name them, and tell me what they did to cross either you or the angel.

Timothy! Fortunately, Circe was so shocked at your intolerably rude outburst that she forgot to even hex you! Unfortunately, the hex that you already have has not gone away yet. What steps have you taken to conceal your current tooth situation from the others?

Elodie! You have living with you a frightened but affectionate pig slash demon hunter. How is that going? Also tell me what you've learned about Carmen's sinister order.

Annalee! You actually got a few good nights sleep for once and you feel great. You're full of pep and vitality and Samael is starting to give you hungry looks. Still, until that progresses you've had a lot of energy to get things done - what have you done to get ahead, and who is mad about it?

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE

Thank goodness Auntie Circe doesn’t actually know how big pigs are. It’s a common mistake! Everybody thinks they’re the size of dogs, basically, and that’s the size Carmen’s at now! When it’s more accurate to think of them as being wolf-sized, and just as dangerous. Elodie’s been around enough pigs to know that they are mouths on legs who don’t exactly care what their food is, as long as it’s not fighting back.

But a dog-sized pig? Adorable! Wonderful! Her new best pet! (It’s only a disguise so until she figures out how to do the Advanced Transmutation properly, and she has to sneak into the stacks in order to read those sorts of books, so that’s why it’s taking a while, honest! Not because she’s wanted to have a cute pet for basically ever, really, Carmen, now please just accept the glittery pink collar! There we go, that’s a good girl!!)

But really, she is going to undo the spell soon. Because if she doesn’t, or if she’s mean to Carmen and doesn’t sneak her extra food from the cafeteria and give her tummy rubs and hide her under the bed when the Angel is on the prowl, then the Holy Order of the Sanctified Saints (HOSS for short) will find her and chop off her head and stuff it full of a special herb blend meant to send her directly to hell, do not pass GO, do not collect two hundred, and then they’ll chop off her hands because they’re used to make Hands of Glory, and they’ll cut out her heart and use it for psychopomp detection or warding or something like that! It’s like being a walking magical item catalogue.

And the really rude thing is that they’ll pray about it first! Like, read the room! There are times and places to force your religion on somebody, and when you’re about to chop off their head and send them to hell and then use them for spare parts is not the time!! Besides, aren’t you really supposed to be using saint body parts, not monsters? That’s all backwards, if you ask me!

...b-but if Carmen puts in a good word for her that’s probably totally not going to happen!!! So Carmen is one pampered, beloved pig, and probably has enjoyed the casual atmosphere and, uh, the whole Useless Lesbian Sleepover Experience (but also you are a pig and thus beneath suspicion).

Anyway detention sucks and when Elodie finds out who ratted on her she’s gonna spook them to death, see if she doesn’t. Dumb hot TA. Dumb snaggletoothed Timmy. Dumb smug Annalee. She could be studying forbidden transmutation books right now and making it less likely she’d be chopped up and put on a shelf inside a secret broom closet in a cathedral somewhere, but noooooooooo, somebody couldn’t keep a secret. Fartfaces.

[Anarion]

CREEP

Annalee had practically laughed herself silly when she saw Tim. Not that she, nor anyone she knew or associated with would possibly know anything about dark magic curses that had been worked on him, nor have any idea whatsoever about the proper method for quickly and easily reversing such a spell whenever she wanted. Obviously not. Unless he had time for her alone of course. After, detention.

Ugh, who added more punishment for the whole dying things anyway, that was supposed to be taken care of by feeding the Angel. Whoever had added this one, Annalee was going to turn them into a newt (turning someone into a newt is obviously NOT dark magic, which Annalee knows nothing about, keep up).

What Annalee had done over the last few days was look for some ins with the dangerous kids. That was always her weak point, she'd felt it even from Elodie the other night when they'd wrestled to the ground. So Annalee needed some muscle on her side. Alexstralia seemed easy enough, and there was that werewolf (she didn't hold the previous mauling against the girl or anything, she was a werewolf, these things happened). Gosh what was her name, oh Margot, that was it, Margot something. Well anyway, Margot, she even wore glasses when she wasn't in wolf form, like, that had to just be an affectation right, it's not like a werewolf would be nearsighted, right?

So, Alex, she just complimented a few times, said they should hang out together. And blind Margie, she's offered her services, fair bargain you get what you want I get what I want, everybody names a favor that the other one can help out with. She didn't go into as much detail as she did with Samael, obviously, but she implied that she could get Margie some information that would normally be hard to come by.

Who's mad about this? Well, hm, who's the most popular girl in the school? You tell me who that is. If Alex and Margie have been gossiping about this, and let's be real they're all brawn no brains so it's doubtful they can keep a secret, the fact that Annalee is scheming will have reached the ears of whoever's at the top of the totem pole and they're not going to like it.

[TheAmishPirate]

It is a dark and stormy night on Sleepshy Rise.

Timothy! Fortunately, Circe was so shocked at your intolerably rude outburst that she forgot to even hex you! Unfortunately, the hex that you already have has not gone away yet. What steps have you taken to conceal your current tooth situation from the others?


CREEP

Annalee had practically laughed herself silly when she saw Tim. Not that she, nor anyone she knew or associated with would possibly know anything about dark magic curses that had been worked on him, nor have any idea whatsoever about the proper method for quickly and easily reversing such a spell whenever she wanted. Obviously not.

Why would you laugh at poor Timothy? Don't you see that he's suffering enough from this terrible illness he's caught?

Yes, yes, it's quite unfortunate. Somehow, he's fallen prey to a rare human malady; cephalgia, xeroderma, acute viral rhinopharyngitis, one of those. I hear that the nurses haven't seen anything like it, and in the interest of protecting the student population from infection, our Timothy has taken to wearing a face mask at all times. And a scarf on top of that. To protect from drafts.

(Between you and me, the whole setup makes it rather difficult to eat. The cafeteria's always occupied, and there's fiends lurking in every corner of this place. He's had to skip a few meals here and there. And do you realize how hard it is to sleep with the wrong mouth?! Little risk of breaking the third rule for him.

At least he definitely looks ill?)

Somehow, he's found the time to realize that the source of this...illness must be some sort of magic. That must it, surely? This sort of thing doesn't just happen out of nowhere. And if that's the case, then if he could find a willing student with the right know-how, then he could get himself cured.

Just a few problems with that. The biggest being the detention he was currently stuck in. And - however fair the judgement was that put him here, or however the deuce the Angel found out he was only gone for five minutes - now that he was in hot water the best thing to do was to keep his head down, get his classwork done, and wait out the...however long detention was in this horrid place.

[Elanorin]

It is a dark and stormy night on Sleepshy Rise.

Samael! You have been called upon by the angel to run detention for Annalee, Elodie, and Timothy. Annalee for dying without permission, Elodie for leaving the walls of Sleepshy Rise, and Timothy for both. You also have two other miscreants to reform - name them, and tell me what they did to cross either you or the angel.


Detention.

Samael not-so-secretly loved detention, especially when he was running it. Not so much when he had to attend it. Although... none of the other teachers were anywhere near as good as him at setting excruciatingly wholesome teachable moments so... there was that.

He gave Annalee a slight nod with a hint of a smile in acknowledgment as she entered the room. They may not have done anything other than sleeping that night but he was quite happy to let people think otherwise. It was as much for their benefit as hers that he pretended to be Bad At Subtle.

Seeing Timothy though, that had to be the highlight of his day. He had to pretend-cough behind his hand to hide the complete delight at how the spell had turned out. His appreciation for Annalee immediately went up several notches.

Tabitha Rex, another vampire, she was unsurprising to see, she was here a lot and more often than not for the same reason, breaking rule number 1. Right now, though, she was a permanent fixture at detention, and would be for several more months, after having openly tried to seduce the Angel.

Elodie was a bit more of a new face, as well as Melinoe Hades, who thought herself above handing in her Positive Review of A Parent paper on time.

"Welcome, Annalee, your hair looks beautiful tonight.” Samael stood up from where he'd been casually leaning against a desk. It was school policy to always welcome the students to create a positive learning environment - even in detention. Adding a not-at-all-creepy compliment was of course a sign of first-class teaching.

"Welcome, Miss Rex, you are delightfully punctual." This compliment came with a much less sincere voice.

"Welcome, Miss Faucher, bright and colourful as ever."

"Welcome, Miss Hades, looking forwards to seeing more of your impeccable handwriting tonight." Samael's voice lost enthusiasm with every welcoming that came, growing more and more formal and rehearsed. Until...

"Mr Oglevee Crompton of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons," Samael's face lit up, "how good to see you. What great teeth you have," he added with a grin that looked more like that of the big bad wolf than red riding hood.

"Tonight we are practising friendships, so you will be working in pairs. Miss Hades, Miss Rex, you sit over here. Miss Faucher and Mr Oglevee Crompton of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons, you two over here. And... as we are odd numbers tonight... Ana, you're with me..."

"First up, a promise. You will each make one promise to your partner, right here, right now. It must be a kind promise. A sincere promise and one you can carry out tonight as your partner will write a 500 word Friendship Earned report on your delivering your promise to them, which will be handed in to me at 4am tomorrow morning.

[TheAmishPirate]

"Mr Oglevee Crompton of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons," Samael's face lit up, "how good to see you. What great teeth you have," he added with a grin that looked more like that of the big bad wolf than red riding hood.

Samael, you get treated to the Crompton Special Technique For Placating Bullies: A cowed slump, with just the right amount of dejection. Deferential enough to know that you've put him in his place. Not entertaining enough to go in for a second jab.

Immediately after, however, you're treated to the Crompton Accidental Impression of a Puppy That's Just Heard a Weird Sound: Furrowed brows, tilt of the head, total confusion.

Teeth. The vampire specifically mocked his teeth.

How did the vampire know about his teeth?

He'd been so careful. So careful! Not a soul in this school knew about the true nature of his "illness", except for Elodie, and she definitely never would've ever gossiped about that. So the only way the vampire could've known about his teeth...is if he had a hand in spoiling them in the first place. But how could that be? He didn't have any magical powers, did he?

Hrmmmmmm....


"Tonight we are practising friendships, so you will be working in pairs. Miss Hades, Miss Rex, you sit over here. Miss Faucher and Mr Oglevee Crompton of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons, you two over here. And... as we are odd numbers tonight... Ana, you're with me..."

"First up, a promise. You will each make one promise to your partner, right here, right now. It must be a kind promise. A sincere promise and one you can carry out tonight as your partner will write a 500 word Friendship Earned report on your delivering your promise to them, which will be handed in to me at 4am tomorrow morning.

Oh thank goodness, an easy assignment. Really was a toss of the dice here, wasn't it? Some days, you had to write a friendship lesson. Other days, you had to shake hands with the unsavory undead. *shudder*

Timothy scooted his chair up to Elodie's desk in the corner. Enough to give them what privacy they could get. "If it's alright by you, I'll go first," he volunteered, voice slightly muffled by masks and wrongjaw. Best to get the job over with quickly, no? Now what could he promise her in this terrible, terrible school? Supplies were limited, of course, but not completely gone...

"Ah!" His face lit up. So obvious! This assignment would be a cinch. "Elodie, I promise to make and share tea with you before the evening is over. What do you say?"

Elodie, the teeth are a distant, bad dream. Timothy Oglevee Crompton - wrapped up in a cozy scarf like a Christmas present - has just offered you his hand. Should you take it, he will whisk you away to a quiet corner of the cafeteria for a private teatime. He will make pleasant conversation with you for as long as that teatime shall last. And he will not stop staring at you with those big, shining eyes of his, not even for a moment.

What do you do? What do you promise in return?

[In a shocking twist, Timothy will roll to Turn Elodie On: 6 + 4 -1 = 9 The choice is yours.~]

[Anarion]

Annalee doesn't try especially hard to rebut any of the implications that Samael is making. When he compliments her, she returns the favor, telling Samael that his fangs look quite dashing this evening. She takes her seat, looks over the room. She tries not to look smug as she does so. She had a good sleeping place last night, current favoritism, she was working on picking up some more consistent muscle to boot. The real calculation was what she could count on. She'd gotten far last night doing business with Samael, and played a bit coyly with him, but she harbored no illusions that his favoritism came freely. At least not for a long period of time. She'd need to use it while she could and then make sure that she dropped it on her terms, rather than his. Easier said than done, of course. But for now, she had an excellent hand and an eye towards how much she could play it for before the cards got shuffled.

To that end, she was almost disappointed that Samael called her immediately. She'd hoped to offer something easy and get a concession out of someone else. But instead he had called her immediately. Another favor perhaps? She went and took her seat with him, doing her best not to look at Timmy and Elly-belly out of the corner of her eye. The stupid boy was twisting her all over and she wasn't pleased with it, but one thing at a time.

"Samael, what a lucky break" she says, focusing on him. "I can't imagine what sort of kind promise you'd like from me, but I'm sure I'll be happy to deliver. And does that mean I even get a 500 word essay about our friendship from you? Really, if you just promised to write that little essay for me in exchange for my favor, that would be all I'd need." (She wasn't joking on that front. Corny as it may be, if Samael took the time to really put his thoughts on paper, it would make as good a token as any for casting spells on him and that was worth more than its weight in gold.)

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE

There is nothing as apocalyptically ****ty as feeling grossed out by someone else’s physical deformity. It’s true! It’s been scientifically proven! It makes the gross feeling in your stomach double, dropping a heaping feeling of guilt right on top of the visceral reaction. You’re a bad person who should feel bad, it says.

Which is why Elodie’s skin has been crawling this whole time, having to sit down next to Timmy, feeling upset that she’s upset, trying to look at anything other than that scarf and thinking about the teeth underneath and—

Oh. Oh, hello. Those are eyes. Those sure are! Kind, gentle eyes. Forgiving eyes. Eyes she can trust implicitly.

So she blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. One that will just dig her in deeper and deeper trouble, whether or not Sam chews her out over it.

“And I,” she excitedly whispers, “will give you a kiss!”

[Elanorin]

"Samael, what a lucky break" she says, focusing on him. "I can't imagine what sort of kind promise you'd like from me, but I'm sure I'll be happy to deliver. And does that mean I even get a 500 word essay about our friendship from you? Really, if you just promised to write that little essay for me in exchange for my favor, that would be all I'd need." (She wasn't joking on that front. Corny as it may be, if Samael took the time to really put his thoughts on paper, it would make as good a token as any for casting spells on him and that was worth more than its weight in gold.)

The audacity of a student expecting him to do the detention assignment catches Samael clearly off guard and he pauses and stares at Annalee for several motionless seconds. If it had been anyone else they'd quickly regret that kind of brazen behaviour and the temptation to make an example here, even of Annalee, does enter his mind before he dismisses it.

"No." He said, as his eyes added 'but nice try'. "But, since you asked so nicely, I will meet you half way and make you a promise."

Sam reached out a hand to gently cup the side of Annalee's face and beckon it forwards as he leaned down to meet her. If anyone was staring (and he very much hoped they were) they may have thought he was going in for a blatant Rule 1 violation but in the last moment his lips diverted to stop just short of her ear instead of her mouth and he whispered, "I promise you, and only you, free access to one of the others' Promise Delivered essays. Whichever you wish. Whenever you wish." His fingers brushed through her hair and then he stood up again, with a pleased and secretive smile for her before turning and walked over to the board. He quickly wrote a list of everyone's names (except his own), starting with Elodie.

"Right! Everyone. You've had some time to think of your promises. Before I release you to your friendship assignments, come by here and write it down next to your name. A kindness shared is a kindness doubled, after all." After finishing Timothy's extremely lengthy name at the bottom of the list Sam swung around and held the pen up for the first brave soul to take.

EDIT: Reading it back I'm realising Sam's totally trying to turn Ana on here, so...
[Rolling to Turn Annalee On: 4+4+2=10 Sam takes a string.]

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE

The look on Elodie’s face is not the look of a deer caught in the headlights. Deer do not know what a car is, and they do not have the capacity to regret stepping onto the road. (They name it ground-that-kills. And yet they still stand on it, in defiance of God. It is not the foolish and slow who do not leap away; it is the brave and the impious.) Elodie, to her regret, has both of those capacities.

“I can’t,” she says, resorting once again to lying with a straight face. “It’s... the Feast of Saint Tutu. And on such a day the use of chalk is an abomination before the eyes of the LORD, amen.”

She almost crosses herself to back up the lie, and then realizes abjuring herself is not the best idea. So she clasps her hands in prayer and bows.

[Anarion]

CREEP



[Rolling to Turn Annalee On: 4+4+2=10 Sam takes a string.]

Oh no! Samael hadn't said what he wanted! And now he was walking away and working on the chalkboard and talking to the other students. Elly belly was saying something ridiculous like she always did (there was no saint Tutu, Annalee would have heard of her...right?). What now? Oh no, she was going to blow this chance to get in good with Samael. If she wrote something on the board and he didn't like it, she'd embarrass herself, but if she drew his attention now, it would disrupt what he's doing with the other attention seekers. She'd have to...um...ugh, what did he even want? Blood, right. He'd wanted Timothy's blood. He probably wanted hers too. But could she be that forward? Well...she couldn't think of anything else so the answer was yes.

Annalee went up to the chalkboard and wrote "I promise to donate Samael a little bit of blood one time whenever he would like." Then just as she was turning to leave the board, she added a winking smiley face at the end. ;)

[TheAmishPirate]

SECOND PLACE

There is nothing as apocalyptically ****ty as feeling grossed out by someone else’s physical deformity. It’s true! It’s been scientifically proven! It makes the gross feeling in your stomach double, dropping a heaping feeling of guilt right on top of the visceral reaction. You’re a bad person who should feel bad, it says.

Which is why Elodie’s skin has been crawling this whole time, having to sit down next to Timmy, feeling upset that she’s upset, trying to look at anything other than that scarf and thinking about the teeth underneath and—

Oh. Oh, hello. Those are eyes. Those sure are! Kind, gentle eyes. Forgiving eyes. Eyes she can trust implicitly.

So she blurts out the first thing that comes to mind. One that will just dig her in deeper and deeper trouble, whether or not Sam chews her out over it.

“And I,” she excitedly whispers, “will give you a kiss!”

Well! That's! Surprising!

Especially because, well, you know, people kiss each other all the time! They’ve been doing it forever. It’s a polite thing to do, among fond friends. A fact which he would mention in his Friendship Report, about the time he spent with his friend. So, the surprise is really at surprise itself. The books never mentioned anything about your guts getting swapped out for heat and lightning. Must be something that goes away with practice.

"Well!" He moved the thought to words, and a little laughter finds its way in there for good measure. "I'd better make extra sure it's good tea!"


"Right! Everyone. You've had some time to think of your promises. Before I release you to your friendship assignments, come by here and write it down next to your name. A kindness shared is a kindness doubled, after all." After finishing Timothy's extremely lengthy name at the bottom of the list Sam swung around and held the pen up for the first brave soul to take.

oh no.

Even more surprising; it turned out that you could get so frightened by so many things that they all sort of got jammed in the door together and you were still terrified but you couldn't begin to name what had spooked your soul.

Timothy got up in a haze - clearly feeling the effects of his terrible illness - and numbly wrote, "I promise to make and share tea with Elodie Faucher." In perfect cursive.

Some things lived in a realm beyond mortal terror.


SECOND PLACE

The look on Elodie’s face is not the look of a deer caught in the headlights. Deer do not know what a car is, and they do not have the capacity to regret stepping onto the road. (They name it ground-that-kills. And yet they still stand on it, in defiance of God. It is not the foolish and slow who do not leap away; it is the brave and the impious.) Elodie, to her regret, has both of those capacities.

“I can’t,” she says, resorting once again to lying with a straight face. “It’s... the Feast of Saint Tutu. And on such a day the use of chalk is an abomination before the eyes of the LORD, amen.”

She almost crosses herself to back up the lie, and then realizes abjuring herself is not the best idea. So she clasps her hands in prayer and bows.

"Oh. Oh? It-It was? It is?" Timothy looked to Elodie, to the piece of chalk in his hand, and back to Elodie, and then the board, and the piece of chalk, and oh no had it just gotten worse?! "I...I-I didn't know. My apologies." He said to...well, Elodie? Samael? Whoever was listening? The room? His maker? Take your pick.

[Elanorin]

“I can’t,” she says, resorting once again to lying with a straight face. “It’s... the Feast of Saint Tutu. And on such a day the use of chalk is an abomination before the eyes of the LORD, amen.”

She almost crosses herself to back up the lie, and then realizes abjuring herself is not the best idea. So she clasps her hands in prayer and bows.

So, Sam thought, as he forced himself to spread his lips in almost-a-smile, we've reached the ridiculous excuses part of the evening. Check. At least it was a tad more imaginative than the old hellhounds chewing the homework. Points for that.



Annalee went up to the chalkboard and wrote "I promise to donate Samael a little bit of blood one time whenever he would like." Then just as she was turning to leave the board, she added a winking smiley face at the end. ;)

He glanced back over his shoulder for a quick check to see what Ana had put but ended up doing a double take when he read her words. All thoughts of thrilling punishments towards Elodie went immediately out the metaphorical window.

Witches blood.

Tonight.

He was used to pushing his thirst aside, from so many years here and having had to learn the hard way to practice restraint and layers of self-control but her promise, written so brazenly for all to see, it tore savagely at every one of his neatly constructed defences. Did she know? Was this part of the game? Was there a game or was she actually genuinely this taken with him? He'd barely even got started with his seduction of her...

Sam was hardly able to take his eyes off Ana to check what on earth the Human had come up with. Tea.

Well...

He probably would have felt inclined to ridicule that in some way but with his mind screaming for the blood promised it... it just didn't come.



"Oh. Oh? It-It was? It is?" Timothy looked to Elodie, to the piece of chalk in his hand, and back to Elodie, and then the board, and the piece of chalk, and oh no had it just gotten worse?! "I...I-I didn't know. My apologies." He said to...well, Elodie? Samael? Whoever was listening? The room? His maker? Take your pick.

This is where Samael would have spoken his mind about this 'Saint Tutu' crap and slapped some additional detention on Elodie for her behaviour but right now keeping any student here a moment longer than absolutely necessary was the last thing he wanted. Thank Annalee for that.

"Miss Faucher," Sam forced every ounce of patience he could muster in to his voice, "if you are... 'unable' to write it then... just say it. Out loud. And quickly. Then you can all leave."

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE

“Oh!” Oh no the saint’s day excuse is supposed to work every time what is she supposed to do think fast think fast think fast

“I am going to give Timothy a personalized gift,” she says hurriedly, taking his hand and pulling him towards the door. “I haven’t made my mind up yet maybe a bouquet okay byyyyeeeeeeeeee”

nyoooooom

And nobody expected a thing. Elodie, you so smooth.

[Elanorin]

SECOND PLACE
“I am going to give Timothy a personalized gift,” she says hurriedly, taking his hand and pulling him towards the door. “I haven’t made my mind up yet maybe a bouquet okay byyyyeeeeeeeeee”

nyoooooom


Soon followed by the other delinquents, I'm sure, not that Samael paid much attention to any of them. His eyes were solely on Annalee. He couldn't remember being this surprised by a student for... years. He thought he had this little witch all figured, just like the rest of the students in this place, but... this? To volunteer her blood, just like that, without hesitation, without even being asked.

Who is this girl?

Without a word, and without bothering to check if any of the detention students were still lingering he stepped up to Annalee. He brushed light fingertips through her hair before reaching around her shoulders and her legs to lift her up in to his arms.

"Hold on."

Holding her tight, Samael dashed with vampiric agility across the old manor of Sleepshy Rise over to the Library wing. Never stopping or even pausing to mark the sleep deprived students they passed on the way, his eyes remained fixed on Annalee's, even as he kicked the doors open to the huge library. The sound of the massive wooden double doors slamming open crashed through the otherwise fairly muted library halls.

His steps slowed here and walked calmly passed the librarian's office, the rows of writing desks with their small lit reading lamps, semi-conscious students, the tall neatly stacked wooden bookshelves with their carefully organised volumes.

The light in here was warm and dim from the reading lamps and the little lights fixed to the top of each impossibly tall bookshelf. His footsteps on the ancient flagstone floor echoed up to the high wooden ceiling as he passed it all with Annalee in his arms.

They passed rows after rows of books that filled the air in here with the rich warm smell of leather-bound words mingling with the subtle smell of pencil shavings and countless cups of coffee at various stages of staleness.

They passed through the wooden and obscured leaded glass partition of the Restricted Section and he nudged the door shut behind them. In here the scent of alcohol and formaldehyde picked up a little and the booshelves contained other items other than just books - scrolls, stoppered bottles and chests of various sizes. There were tiny whispers in the air in here, too many and too close to the edge of hearing to be made out but they were constant and bitter, it unsettled most people and so made this a less than ideal place for sleeping, or studying, even for those permitted access. Samael hoped it would therefore be more private than his secret room which every bumbling idiot in this school seemed to know about now.

In the small reading corner Sam settled Annalee down on one of the overstuffed old armchairs next to a five foot tall cast iron candle holder with lit candles and layers and layers of wax dripping in miniature stalactites from its many arms.

He knelt down on the floor before her, knitting his fingers together and resting his hands on her knees.

"You are full of surprises. Why would you make such a promise to me, Annalee Sokolov?"

[Thanqol]

The Sleepshy Cafeteria was also known as The Kill Zone.

The majority of students didn't eat, y'know, food - meaning the only people who came by regularly were the mortals. As a place that guaranteed a steady stream of mortals coming by, it was also the preferred hunting area for the school's most predatory creatures. Careful on your way to the buffet - you've got to avoid the spiderwebs, the pit traps, the cloakers, the mimics disguised as table chairs, the gangs of roving vampires or incubi who will sit down next to you all friendly-like and ask you for your name and ask if you could spare them a bite...

Everyone here is hungry. And Elodie just brought a packed lunch from home.

[Anarion]

"You are full of surprises. Why would you make such a promise to me, Annalee Sokolov?"

What tactic to take here? Annalee's mind was whirring. She'd obviously intrigued him, and that was ideal. Did she tell him she wanted power? Appeal to his attractiveness? Make herself out to be tougher than she really was, like this was nothing big?

Understand. Annalee Sokolov is not strong. She is not fast. She does not have portals with which to flee or the sort of hypnotizing magic that Samael could use to charm the unwary. And she is not hot and she knows it. A girl like that, if anyone really treated her as she was, would be dead already. Dead again. And again and again. A girl like that needed to rely on her wits, her ability to manipulate people and leverage the sort of power that she did have. She had to be fearless and intriguing and better than everyone else so that they hung on her every word. That was the only way.

"I am a witch, da" she says, slipping more into her accent in private. It makes her sound a little like old Baba Sokolov, maybe shows what she could be like in the future. "I was trained to treat with spirits and the supernatural, to know them and offer them their needs in exchange for their favors. Such is the essence of magic. What is a little blood, then, as a favor to such a good friend? Though a little, mind. I am offering you your pleasure and willing to feel a little faint for a day, not to find myself returned to the morgue and that foul doctor." She gives you a stern look, Samael, though she holds it only for a moment.

[TheAmishPirate]

The Sleepshy Cafeteria was also known as The Kill Zone.

The majority of students didn't eat, y'know, food - meaning the only people who came by regularly were the mortals. As a place that guaranteed a steady stream of mortals coming by, it was also the preferred hunting area for the school's most predatory creatures. Careful on your way to the buffet - you've got to avoid the spiderwebs, the pit traps, the cloakers, the mimics disguised as table chairs, the gangs of roving vampires or incubi who will sit down next to you all friendly-like and ask you for your name and ask if you could spare them a bite...

Everyone here is hungry. And Elodie just brought a packed lunch from home.

Timothy Oglevee Crompton (of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons) waltzed into The Sleepyshy Cafeteria, hand in hand with Elodie. The place was absoulutely stuffed with monstrous creatures of every size, shape, and description, walking nightmares from the darkest imaginations of man. And so was the hallway they'd just come through, and every room they'd passed, and every room they hadn't passed, and every room that somehow managed to elude either of the previous two descriptions. The cafeteria was as horrifically inhabited as anywhere else, and merited the usual amount of caution. Which was to say, a lot of caution.

Such was life here. You didn't get used to it.

Timothy led her towards one of the unoccupied tables on the far, far end of the room. (Why was it that even here, the far tables were practically deserted? Did a clear line of sight to the exit aid the digestion? Ridiculous.) There, he let go of her hand...so that he could properly pull out a chair for her and motion for her to sit. "Please; allow me. This is your teatime, and I'm just sharing it." When was the last time he'd had a proper teatime? Too long, by far. "What kind of tea would you like? Black? Chamomile? Or something sweeter?"

Did...did his eyes just sparkle just now? I mean, he must still be having trouble talking around that mask. And that scarf. Becuase he certainly didn't just say that last bit extra low and slow, just for you Elodie.

That would be. Um.

That would be crazytalk.

[Rolling up some Mixed Messages to Turn Elodie On: 6 + 3 + 0 = 9 Choice is yours. :smallamused:]

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE

Be subtle, Elodie! Don’t do anything horrifically stupid! Don’t be a dingus! Don’t think like a fluttering-hearted doe-eyed dizzybrains!

“You know what?” Elodie takes his hand, and holds it. She holds it like it’s a lifeline. “Let’s get a chamomile, to go.” Her voice has more purr in it than word. “I know someplace that’s much more... private than the cafeteria. And there, we can keep both our promises~”

So, how’s that sound, Timmy? Make no mistake, Elodie intends to climb you like a creeping vine once you’re alone. Just don’t take that scarf off, and she’ll make you scream. The good kind of scream. Because that’s what you want too, right? You want to feel alive. To do the things that teenagers do. That’s why you’re being so chivalrous, so generous, so seductive. You’re proving you’re more than just your teeth.

So, what do you say? Care to go get a tea set to go?

Good boy.

[Elanorin]

"I am a witch, da" she says, slipping more into her accent in private. It makes her sound a little like old Baba Sokolov, maybe shows what she could be like in the future. "I was trained to treat with spirits and the supernatural, to know them and offer them their needs in exchange for their favors. Such is the essence of magic. What is a little blood, then, as a favor to such a good friend? Though a little, mind. I am offering you your pleasure and willing to feel a little faint for a day, not to find myself returned to the morgue and that foul doctor." She gives you a stern look, Samael, though she holds it only for a moment.

"I daresay it is a lot more than anyone else is getting in this godforsaken place tonight," Samael purred with a very pleased smile. "You are a generous witch, a rare thing indeed..." he parted his hands and rested them on a witchy knee each and soon began a slow caress up her outer thighs to her generous waist as he rose on his knees to reach that sweet spot where her neck met her shoulder. "I'm almost inclined to show generosity in return..." he murmured against her skin, savouring the moment, the scent, the sound of witches blood rushing hot and gleaming, just a whisper from his teeth, before finally taking the much anticipated bite.

[The Feeding: I take 1 Forward, Annalee definitely doesn't die]

[TheAmishPirate]

SECOND PLACE

Be subtle, Elodie! Don’t do anything horrifically stupid! Don’t be a dingus! Don’t think like a fluttering-hearted doe-eyed dizzybrains!

“You know what?” Elodie takes his hand, and holds it. She holds it like it’s a lifeline. “Let’s get a chamomile, to go.” Her voice has more purr in it than word. “I know someplace that’s much more... private than the cafeteria. And there, we can keep both our promises~”

So, how’s that sound, Timmy? Make no mistake, Elodie intends to climb you like a creeping vine once you’re alone. Just don’t take that scarf off, and she’ll make you scream. The good kind of scream. Because that’s what you want too, right? You want to feel alive. To do the things that teenagers do. That’s why you’re being so chivalrous, so generous, so seductive. You’re proving you’re more than just your teeth.

So, what do you say? Care to go get a tea set to go?

Good boy.

Gubduh

Howzit

Um. UM.

Bright, bright red stole up his face, peeping up over the scarf and spreading until even his ears turned scarlet. His hands trembled in Elodie's grasp, every motion shattering him anew with fresh data. Warm. Sure. Confident. Soft. Stable. Squeezing. Squeezing. Squeezing pain ow ow ow ow.

Th-thump. Th-thump. Th-thump. Pulsing through his fingers. Pulsing under hers. Can you feel it, Elodie? Can you feel his life?

"I should get the tea." Timothy declared, and walked away without another word.

Elodie, how does it feel to watch Timothy Oglvee Crompton (of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons) all but melt in your hands? I mean, his face! His ears! (Did you know ears could turn that color? Educational!) The stunned silence! What else could it be? And to think, such a handsome, dashing gentleman could be so shy. That must be why he hadn't kissed you yet. Good think you made the first move, huh?

And most importantly of all, are you letting go long enough to let the boy fetch you some tea?

[Anarion]

[The Feeding: I take 1 Forward, Annalee definitely doesn't die]

Annalee shudders when your teeth first caress her neck and you can feel the shiver of thrill that races through her whole body. Perhaps she's ticklish? Perhaps she hasn't done this as much as she'd like. Perhaps the neck is a very sensitive area for her. But one way or another, she practically curls into you. It's soft, how she feels in your embrace. Soft, thick and full. There's a lot of tension in her shoulders though, it's where she puts all her stress and you can see her visibly respond to even the lightest touch of your fingers there. She'd melt if you started a massage.

Even when your fangs penetrate the skin and there's a soft gasp, she seems to lean into the pain, like she's enjoying it. You don't drink too deep either, truly quite the gentleman, and as you release your teeth and a single drop of blood drips onto her neck by the bite marks, it is very, plainly, extremely obvious that Annalee Sokolov enjoyed every part of that very much.

Annalee doesn't say anything immediately when you're done, Samael, just holds herself close to you, stretching out the moment as long as you'll allow.

[Thanqol]

It's a very positive emotion, hate. Hate gets you out of bed in the morning. Hate brushes your teeth, goes through breakfast, makes you do a fancy triple knot rather than a basic bow wrapping. Hate gives you the willpower to be your best self, to push through every mental block or moment of doubt or insecurity. Hate is a model citizen, a perfectly contributing member of society who goes above and beyond the call of duty. With enough hate you can get right on up out of the grave - in fact, the hate won't even give you a choice!

And if there's one person Melodie Zant hates it's Elodie Faucher.


Ghost Wizard: Ghosts can do all kinds of weird stuff. Melodie is kind of new to this, though.
Fuelled by Hate: Every time Melodie causes someone to feel sad she takes a string on that person.



She didn't deserve to be here in Sleepshy. She deserved to be in the afterlife by now, being served grapes by beautiful catgirls (in what she assumed was the afterlife promised to dutiful worshippers of Bast)! But what was there to do when your psychopomp decided that freaking out and crying and running off were more important than guiding you through the sunless realms? Like her feelings were more important than your eternal rest!? Hate hadn't given her the option to even try following the tearful, mumbled directions she had been given (take a left, then onwards to the point where the not-sun crests the night obelisk, then it's the battle-ax block at the end of the skull road). Hate had turned her around and walked her right back into the waking world because, damn it, she'd been overlooked in life and damn it she was not going to be overlooked in death.

And she sees Elodie now. Sees the boy - who was apparently more important than her eternal rest!!

Well!!

Something!! Must!! Be!! Done!!

She sneaks up on Timothy Crompton as he is making tea and steps right into his body. She doesn't care about the fine puppet-details of possession. She just grabs him, steps into his body, and saturates his being with spooky ghost magic. It's the best she can think of on short notice.

Timothy! You don't really notice! You can still make tea just fine. Maybe it's a bit chilly. You are getting a lot less hungry looks from the cafeteria though.

[Timothy, enter your Darkest Self, with an eye towards the Ghost's.]

[Elanorin]

Annalee shudders when your teeth first caress her neck and you can feel the shiver of thrill that races through her whole body. Perhaps she's ticklish? Perhaps she hasn't done this as much as she'd like. Perhaps the neck is a very sensitive area for her. But one way or another, she practically curls into you. It's soft, how she feels in your embrace. Soft, thick and full. There's a lot of tension in her shoulders though, it's where she puts all her stress and you can see her visibly respond to even the lightest touch of your fingers there. She'd melt if you started a massage.

Even when your fangs penetrate the skin and there's a soft gasp, she seems to lean into the pain, like she's enjoying it. You don't drink too deep either, truly quite the gentleman, and as you release your teeth and a single drop of blood drips onto her neck by the bite marks, it is very, plainly, extremely obvious that Annalee Sokolov enjoyed every part of that very much.

Annalee doesn't say anything immediately when you're done, Samael, just holds herself close to you, stretching out the moment as long as you'll allow.

The moment stretched easily and winded its increasingly lengthy tendrils round and round the two, where she sat, where he knelt, his face still only inches from hers. Samael couldn't remember when he last tasted witches blood like this. His chest was heaving, gasping for breath as if he'd been running for miles. His body was positively radiating with... heat? No. Light? No. Vitality. Yes.

He felt... hells below... he felt Alive.

Had he ever tasted witches blood like this?

Despite feeling more powerful than ever, all Samael could do was breathe, as he felt her electrifying blood flow down his throat, in to his chest, his abdomen, the sheer heat of it radiating out his arms, filling his shoulders, shining out in to his hands and fingertips as they reached up under her shirt. It flowed down his legs, through his knees and in to his feet and it pooled in his heart, his head, on his tongue, and it burned deliciously. Thirst morphed and faded seamlessly in to hunger, one sated, the other triggered. Nothing mattered anymore, only her. Certainly not the goddamn Angel's goddamn rules. To hell with it all. Her. Right here. Right now. The rest be damned. Even if it meant losing it all.

STOP.

The alarm bells rang much later than they should have. You tell me Ana, had his lips reached yours by the time he froze? Had his cold dead hands touched the skin under your clothes when he suddenly flew back from you with such force that he slammed in to a bookshelf causing no less than six enormous whispering folios to crash to the floor, missing him by inches and sheer dumb luck?

Or is the look on his face as he stares at you with shock, desire and fear too much for such details to linger in your mind?

[Anarion]

CREEP

It's so nice, being that close. The lips almost come together. If vampires had breath, Annalee would have felt its faintest caress, but instead there is only that moment of tantalizing closeness when suddenly Samael springs backwards, sending the books into a tumble.

Annalee sniffs once, derisively. Gathers herself up. "Well, I see you obviously enjoyed yourself. Next time, at least be a proper gentleman and see your meal to the door before you recoil in disgust."

And with that she turns and strides right out of the library room, never mind who sees the little bite marks on her neck with their blood not yet dried, she holds her head up high and walks right out on him, leaving the door open for anyone studying in the library who cares to take a peek.

[Annalee is rolling to Shut Samael Down. 3+3+2=8. She's giving him the Condition SAVAGE. He may inflict a condition on her in return.]

[Elanorin]

CREEP

It's so nice, being that close. The lips almost come together. If vampires had breath, Annalee would have felt its faintest caress, but instead there is only that moment of tantalizing closeness when suddenly Samael springs backwards, sending the books into a tumble.

Annalee sniffs once, derisively. Gathers herself up. "Well, I see you obviously enjoyed yourself. Next time, at least be a proper gentleman and see your meal to the door before you recoil in disgust."

And with that she turns and strides right out of the library room, never mind who sees the little bite marks on her neck with their blood not yet dried, she holds her head up high and walks right out on him, leaving the door open for anyone studying in the library who cares to take a peek.

[Annalee is rolling to Shut Samael Down. 3+3+2=8. She's giving him the Condition SAVAGE. He may inflict a condition on her in return.]

SAVAGE

She doesn't get far, in fact it's mere steps by the time the vampire's voice rumbles dangerously behind her. It's low, but it's pure fury, like a thunderstorm rolling across the sky straight towards her.

"Did I say you could go?"

And then lightning strikes. In the blink of an eye he is before you, fuelled by your own blood as it betrays you moments after you willingly gave it. His fist strikes you brutally, right across the face with a force to shove you back inside the room. Back where you came from.

He laughs, and any trace of warmth is stolen from it, his eyes are red with a free and rampant thirst that is normally so carefully checked. He kissed his own knuckles, tasting the spot where his skin connected with yours so mercilessly.

"What we have here is a quality teaching moment," he grinned at his own joke. "I know you are just dying to learn. That is why you're here, after all," Samael was enjoying this and began to slowly walk, pacing back and forth before her, blocking her path out and eying her closely. The smile faded but left his fangs bared.

[Rolling to Lash Out Physically against Annalee: 6+1+1=8 I deal harm, I become my Darkest Self
Pulling 1 String on Annalee to give Condition: WHIPPED]

[Anarion]

CREEP
WHIPPED

Before this gets too far, Samael, when you strike her, Annalee tries to raise her raise her hand to protect herself. You brush it aside, but in so doing, her nails might catch and rip on a piece of your shirt.

[Annalee is going to try and grab a sympathetic token here, keeping her cool to do so even under attack. She's really afraid that he'll notice and maybe try to kill her for it. 3+4+2=9. So, she can do it, but the MC will say how it would leave her vulnerable if she does and I get to decide if she follows through or not.]

[TheAmishPirate]

Timothy! You don't really notice! You can still make tea just fine. Maybe it's a bit chilly. You are getting a lot less hungry looks from the cafeteria though.

[Timothy, enter your Darkest Self, with an eye towards the Ghost's.]

It takes five minutes for a cup of chamomile tea to properly steep.

Five minutes is a long time for a boy to spend alone with his thoughts.

This...this couldn't be real. This couldn't really be happening. He felt a passenger in his own body, dimly aware of the sudden storm threatening to swallow him whole, and unable to do a thing to save himself. Helpless as he mechanically made her tea. Her tea. Tea, for her.

Did you know, he hadn't forgotten? At the worst times, at the mediocre times, in the middle of work, in the quiet of the night, it came back to him. Cut clean through his thoughts. Clear as day. Clear as a bright, sunny day at the beach.


“love you too!”

Timothy was beginning to suspect that might not have been entirely by complete accident. Possibly. Was there any mitigating factors? Was she acting under duress? Was this some sort of game? Had he misunderstood her? Had she misunderstood him? What was he missing? What happened? Why would she skip several critical steps in the courtship process?!

Oh beans the courtship process don't think about the courtship process don't think about the courtship process don't

His breath came hard and heavy. And all he'd done was stand here watching a teacup. Fancy that.

Back to the important matter at hand: Why?! Why him? Why now? Why here? Didn't she know how much trouble they'd get in? To...to canoodle in Detention? Might as well skip class, do drugs, and make obscene gestures to any nearby faculty. Didn't she know he'd be out of this nightmare soon, if only he could keep out of trouble? Didn’t she care if he ever got to see his family again?

...did anyone, for that matter?

Samael. G'eldriia. That werewolf girl. Elodie. Even Annie. None of them cared about poor, cursed Timothy. Nobody here was going to help him. Everyone just wanted him dead or wanted him. Rule #2, or Rule #1, it was all the same to the Angel. Detention. Reformation. Incarceration. Forever. In this blasted tower of horrors. Why couldn't he just-

Timothy shivered in the cold, blinked through hot tears.

Why couldn't he just be left alone?

[Roll to Gaze Into the Abyss: 4 + 2 - 1 = 5]

[Becoming the Ghost’s Darkest Self. And I’m pretty sure Timmy is sad, and Melodie is slightly to blame, so go ahead and take a string on him while we’re at it.]

[Thanqol]

Why couldn't he just be left alone?

[Roll to Gaze Into the Abyss: 4 + 2 - 1 = 5]

[Becoming the Ghost’s Darkest Self. And I’m pretty sure Timmy is sad, and Melodie is slightly to blame, so go ahead and take a string on him while we’re at it.]

Oh, but you can be left alone, friend! You just had to say the word! Or think it with such soulfulness that I couldn't look past it any more. You know I can't turn you down, sweetgums - I could just pinch your pretty little cheeks! You know, I hardly think it's fair that you have to put up with all these roided up brutes and arcane backstabbers in the first place. Like you said! Do your time. I'm sure that no matter how hard they look they won't find you, me, or anything else even vaguely suspicious. They won't find anything at all!

Electric lights let off a soft, pervasive blue glow; firelight cuts harder lines and shapes. When both sets of illumination fall away from Timothy's boots it's like he's suddenly forgotten to shine them. Then up the uniform, bite by bite. Not hiding from the lights - eating it whenever it got close like a jagged invisibility cloak.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE

“Hiiiiii, Driiiiiiiaaaaaa,” Elodie says suspiciously, sliding into the seat opposite everybody’s least favorite spider trivia team taskmaster. “Hey, so, it’s the funniest thing, I was here with Timmy, you know, doing a class assignment, and I look away for a moment while he’s walking past your table, and when I look back, gosh, there’s no Timmy, and would you have happened to see where he went?”

Elodie drops her chin in her hands and gives a nastily beatific and innocent smile while simultaneously trying to hook Dria’s gym bag with her foot under the table, because Timmy has to be in there.

[Anarion]

CREEP
WHIPPED

Annalee tries to throw up a hand in defense and a bit of your cuff rips, Samael. It's quick, you're striking her, after all, and she pockets it in the recoil. Besides it's practically nothing.
[Gaining a sympathetic token on Samael]. Despite the speed though, you feel that you've gained power somehow in this moment. Annalee took something of yours onto her person, and she did it without the proper time or magical protections so until she can escape and re-center herself, she's vulnerable to your powers of suggestion.

She is also exceptionally vulnerable to violence. She tries to glower, but she can't quite hold it together and you can see the tears at the corner of her eyes. "Samael, I'm sorry I didn't, I didn't mean, I'm sorry, I just I thought." It's taking everything she has not to break down crying right now. Please don't hurt her.

[Thanqol]

SECOND PLACE

“Hiiiiii, Driiiiiiiaaaaaa,” Elodie says suspiciously, sliding into the seat opposite everybody’s least favorite spider trivia team taskmaster. “Hey, so, it’s the funniest thing, I was here with Timmy, you know, doing a class assignment, and I look away for a moment while he’s walking past your table, and when I look back, gosh, there’s no Timmy, and would you have happened to see where he went?”

Elodie drops her chin in her hands and gives a nastily beatific and innocent smile while simultaneously trying to hook Dria’s gym bag with her foot under the table, because Timmy has to be in there.

"Oooooh, a question!" said G'eldriia Despana, never passing up the opportunity to pull someone into her web. "I love questions! I'll happily answer it if you answer one of mine: Which actor in the popular MTV video What Is Love was an actual vampire? If you get it wrong you have to join the Quiz Team no take backs."

She hasn't noticed you trying to hook her bag, but that's because her attention is on surrounding you with an army of spiders.

[TheAmishPirate]

Oh, but you can be left alone, friend! You just had to say the word! Or think it with such soulfulness that I couldn't look past it any more. You know I can't turn you down, sweetgums - I could just pinch your pretty little cheeks! You know, I hardly think it's fair that you have to put up with all these roided up brutes and arcane backstabbers in the first place. Like you said! Do your time. I'm sure that no matter how hard they look they won't find you, me, or anything else even vaguely suspicious. They won't find anything at all!

Electric lights let off a soft, pervasive blue glow; firelight cuts harder lines and shapes. When both sets of illumination fall away from Timothy's boots it's like he's suddenly forgotten to shine them. Then up the uniform, bite by bite. Not hiding from the lights - eating it whenever it got close like a jagged invisibility cloak.

It is a terrible thing, to cry in public.

The emotion comes from the quiet, deep places of your heart. The unplumbed depths that seem bottomless, up until they aren't. The tears flow, the nose runs, squeezing precious water from your body to evaporate on your face. And the noise! The raw, ugly noise! There never was, is, or will be a sound like it again. The feeling will pass. The throat will age. The heart may mend. But in this moment, these are the words beyond words that must be said, and they belong to you and no others. The public is not needed. The world has no place here.

And sometimes, we have no choice in the matter.

Timothy'd panicked, at first. As much as one can panic in such situations; what was one more disaster to the pile? He felt...well, he felt a lot of things, really. Too many things. Was he different? Was he alright? Results unclear, ask again later. He could hear himself sob, in the same way a quiet hum reverberates through your skull, and dies the moment it hits open air. He couldn't quite see his own hands. Neither could he see anyone pointing and laughing. Perhaps, for the first time, nobody was paying any attention to him at all.

He'd later note (with a miserable sigh) that it was the first time this sort of mishap had turned out in his favor. But that was later. This was now.

And he wasn't quite finished yet.

****************************************

The tea was, without a doubt, horrible. Too strong. A poor blend. No appropriate biscuits to go with it.

It suited the situation.

Slowly, ponderously, he shuffled across the cafeteria, holding the saucers and teacups. He didn't care to know how. What did it matter?

He didn't find Elodie back at their table. He found her chatting with G'eldriia instead, and it was there he set down the tea set beside her, before silently shuffling away.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
POSSIBLY ABOUT TO BE KIDNAPPED BY SPIDERS??

“I’ll happily answer that question if you answer this question first,” Elodie says, with the confidence of someone who has no idea who any of the actors on MTV are, let alone which one was a vampire, because she didn’t have a TV in the sepulchral depths of the underworld, and is hoping that sheer bravado will win her the day.

Scoot scoot goes the bag. Now to get her foot out of her shoe and undo the zipper with her toes, doubtlessly freeing poor Timmy.

“The wave, over a wave,” she chants, just like Sven the Draugr used to do when he babysat her. “A strange thing I saw, through-wrought, and wonderful ornate: a wonder on the waves, water become bone.” Her voice isn’t so much gravelly as “dredged up from the bottom of the pit,” and to ease her throat she sips the tea that Timmy got for her.

...

...

Elodie is buffering, please stand by

...

...

oh my ghastly ghouls where did this tea come from if Timmy was in the duffel bag

...

...

Uh-oh.

[Thanqol]

"Water becoming bone is ice, obviously," said G'eldriia absently. She very clearly wasn't thinking about the question very hard. Instead she was squinting at you through multiple eyes, turning her head side to side, like a lady who'd forgotten her reading glasses trying to pick out which roast chicken in the lineup is largest. "This doesn't count as a question," she said, "but about how foldable are you, on a scale of one to ten?"

And speaking of people who had forgotten their glasses, that human body occupying that duffel bag may indeed have thick glasses, just like Timothy, and may perhaps be cute once those glasses come off, just like Timothy, but there were also enough muscles to go with to bench-press you, unlike Timothy - and the impression that they'd definitely be picking people up off the ground if they weren't bound by a thick tangle and gag of spiderwebs.

For reference you'd need to be at least an eight on the foldability scale to fit into that duffle bag alongside her comfortably. Uncomfortably is a whole different matter though.

Timothy, you may regard the kidnap of Margot the Werewolf to be a karmic justice thing, but some part of your brain will always contemplate long-term terror, and there isn't much more long-term terrible than G'eldriia with werewolf muscle on side.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
DEFINITELY ABOUT TO BE KIDNAPPED BY SPIDERS

Oh no how could she have failed to stump the trivia champion with a thousand-year-old riddle?? This made no sense at all!! What’s worse, Timothy has dumped her! Clearly, he asked someone to send the tea over and ran away because she was too... too... too Elodie.

A pang of sadness punches her right in the heart. The heart responds: ow, also screw you, also I am ready to run, fight or flight time, Els, and it is clearly flight time.

“Okay, I do always keep my word,” Elodie says, slipping her shoes clumsily back on hands-free, her hands on the table, her muscles tensing. “As everybody knows, the answer to your super easy question is oh my Dracula what is Sethotep doing here??”

The perfect distraction. Elodie leaps to her feet with a grin and a triumphant cry, and promptly faceplants on the table because her shoes are stuck to the floor.

Oh, also, on a scale of one to ten, Elodie’s about a six? Like, if you’re counting Naginella as a ten. She is amazingly foldable. You could fit all nine feet of her into a shoebox if you tried really, really hard. Naginella, not Elodie. Elodie can just, like, do the splits and nearly touch her head to her knees in gym class when they’re doing toe stretches. So, like, good, but just ordinary girl good, not Naginella good, and oh no no noooooooooo don’t pull her under the table she’s way too good-looking and popular to join the quiz team

[Guess! Who! Rolled a 3!]

[TheAmishPirate]

"Water becoming bone is ice, obviously," said G'eldriia absently. She very clearly wasn't thinking about the question very hard. Instead she was squinting at you through multiple eyes, turning her head side to side, like a lady who'd forgotten her reading glasses trying to pick out which roast chicken in the lineup is largest. "This doesn't count as a question," she said, "but about how foldable are you, on a scale of one to ten?"

And speaking of people who had forgotten their glasses, that human body occupying that duffel bag may indeed have thick glasses, just like Timothy, and may perhaps be cute once those glasses come off, just like Timothy, but there were also enough muscles to go with to bench-press you, unlike Timothy - and the impression that they'd definitely be picking people up off the ground if they weren't bound by a thick tangle and gag of spiderwebs.

For reference you'd need to be at least an eight on the foldability scale to fit into that duffle bag alongside her comfortably. Uncomfortably is a whole different matter though.

Timothy, you may regard the kidnap of Margot the Werewolf to be a karmic justice thing, but some part of your brain will always contemplate long-term terror, and there isn't much more long-term terrible than G'eldriia with werewolf muscle on side.

Did you know? When Margot threw him through a wall and out the school and to one of his deaths, he got Detention for that? And she didn't? Because they only had enough room for three rules in this miserable place, and they couldn't possibly find room for 'don't kill anyone?'

Well. Did you?! Because Tim Crompton certainly did!

...what's that? So you say he ought to just leave her there?

Are you mad?! The whole point of that little story is that if G'eldriia recruits Margot at fang-point, then she can tell her to eat him for breakfast every day until he agrees to join her wretched club, and she'd get away with it! It's bad enough staying ahead of a spider, can you imagine staying ahead of a wolf too?

And so, it was - with great reluctance and a sigh that nearly expelled his soul - that Timothy found himself shuffling back around towards the table in question.


SECOND PLACE
DEFINITELY ABOUT TO BE KIDNAPPED BY SPIDERS

Oh no how could she have failed to stump the trivia champion with a thousand-year-old riddle?? This made no sense at all!! What’s worse, Timothy has dumped her! Clearly, he asked someone to send the tea over and ran away because she was too... too... too Elodie.

A pang of sadness punches her right in the heart. The heart responds: ow, also screw you, also I am ready to run, fight or flight time, Els, and it is clearly flight time.

“Okay, I do always keep my word,” Elodie says, slipping her shoes clumsily back on hands-free, her hands on the table, her muscles tensing. “As everybody knows, the answer to your super easy question is oh my Dracula what is Sethotep doing here??”

The perfect distraction. Elodie leaps to her feet with a grin and a triumphant cry, and promptly faceplants on the table because her shoes are stuck to the floor.

Oh, also, on a scale of one to ten, Elodie’s about a six? Like, if you’re counting Naginella as a ten. She is amazingly foldable. You could fit all nine feet of her into a shoebox if you tried really, really hard. Naginella, not Elodie. Elodie can just, like, do the splits and nearly touch her head to her knees in gym class when they’re doing toe stretches. So, like, good, but just ordinary girl good, not Naginella good, and oh no no noooooooooo don’t pull her under the table she’s way too good-looking and popular to join the quiz team

[Guess! Who! Rolled a 3!]

Amidst all the confusion, surely no one will notice a single spoon fall off the table. (Yes, I said spoon. The cutlery in this school is so abysmal, the average spoon is sharper than the average knife.)

And, once below eyesight, no one will notice it clumsily float into the air, turn on its side, and slice through a few critical points in the webbing holding Margot captive.

And, once done, Timothy shouldn't have to do anything else, because she's more than strong enough to break the rest herself, and he wouldn't have even attempted this misadvanture had he not been assured of his own safety and clear exit strategy. A strategy which primarily consisted of, "walk to the exit, keep going, don't stop, repeat step 3 until you've reached your room."

[Thanqol]

Elodie!

I will not ask what, exactly, your feelings are about being bound, gagged and crammed into a duffel bag alongside a buff, sweaty werewolf. Perhaps intimate bondage alongside an extremely strong and terrifying lady in an extremely confined space is the sort of thing you can take in stride. But regardless of how hot you find the situation, anyone would be forced to agree that the situation is very - well - hot. Physically. There is very little air circulation here and Margot's body temperature runs high and you're not helping, what with your heart hammering in terror upon realizing that she has somehow gotten a hand free of her restraints but her three-inch claws are temporarily at slightly the wrong angle to slaughter you.

What I'm saying is that this probably a situation where keeping your cool is optimal, yet difficult.


G'eldriia, for her part, is doing her level best to drag her overloaded shopping bag along behind her. It is very hard work! Lifting two people is no joke!

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
IN A STICKY SITUATION

“MMMMMRMPH!!!”

Do you know how terrible it would be if she got impaled on those terrible claws and bled out? Well, first, it would be incredibly painful. Even more painful than the zipper imprinting itself on her lower back. Pain is bad. We don’t like pain.

Second of all, it would mean having to talk to Dad again. And he’ll have all kinds of questions as to how she got in this situation and then he’ll start trying to explain safe sex to her again and what syphilis looks like at the end of your life and all about the kinky scenarios gone wrong and it’s like, first of all, Dad, gross, please stop talking, second of all, it’s not what it looks like, and third of all, please don’t add this to the Christmas card this year as a warning anecdote. The shame would be astronomical.

Third, she really likes this top, it’s got sequins and everything, and bleeding out in a duffel bag would just ruin it. Absolutely ruin it!

“MMMN, NNNHHH, SSMMMNN HHHMMPH MMMM!!”

Also Margot smells like The Gym Locker Rooms, like she uses their vital essences as a body spray. As you can imagine, it is hard to do any sort of escaping while being punched in the face by musk and sweat (dried and wet varieties, because why not). Her B.O. is an unholy blend of unwashed athlete and wet dog, and a few minutes in, Elodie can barely see straight, what with her watering eyes and dizzy head.

Also Margot is doing a lot of thrashing about and throwing her weight around and pretty soon it’s not so much the puncturing that’s as pressing as the, um, rubbing. And grinding. And oh no don’t— don’t roll on top of her, you’re gonna— oooooofff.

There is a werewolf on top of her and she’s having to breathe in deeper and deeper because of how squished she is and she might just pass out. At least if she does get stabbed, maybe she won’t feel it because she’s already been K.O.’d by B.O. and also webbed-up werewolf boobs in her face.

This was not the kind of hot and heavy sweaty makeouts she wanted from today, darnit!!!

[Guess! Who! Rolled a 2!]

[Thanqol]

G'eldriia snapped her fingers. "Air holes," she muttered, like she'd seen a rain cloud and remembered her laundry. "Next time remember the air holes."

*

HELLO ELODIE.

oh no.

I WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE YOU, said the Grim Reaper. DEATH DURING INTERCOURSE WAS VOTED NUMBER TWO ON REDDIT'S "COOLEST WAYS TO DIE". AND WITH A WEREWOLF NO LESS! THAT IS QUITE AN "EXTREME" ACHIEVEMENT AT YOUR AGE. I SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SO WORRIED WHEN YOUR AUNTIE CIRCE TOLD ME YOU WERE DATING AN ORDINARY HUMAN BEING. IT IS CLEAR TO ME NOW THAT SLEEPSHY RISE IS DOING YOU GOOD. KEEP GOING IN THIS DIRECTION AND YOU'LL BE "EXTREME" ENOUGH TO RIDE WITH YOUR OLD MAN IN NO TIME AT ALL!

[Elanorin]

CREEP
WHIPPED

Annalee tries to throw up a hand in defense and a bit of your cuff rips, Samael. It's quick, you're striking her, after all, and she pockets it in the recoil. Besides it's practically nothing.
[Gaining a sympathetic token on Samael]. Despite the speed though, you feel that you've gained power somehow in this moment. Annalee took something of yours onto her person, and she did it without the proper time or magical protections so until she can escape and re-center herself, she's vulnerable to your powers of suggestion.

She is also exceptionally vulnerable to violence. She tries to glower, but she can't quite hold it together and you can see the tears at the corner of her eyes. "Samael, I'm sorry I didn't, I didn't mean, I'm sorry, I just I thought." It's taking everything she has not to break down crying right now. Please don't hurt her.

SAVAGE

Samael watched her cower on the floor, trying so desperately to muster the courage to challenge his gaze only for her words to tumble out in a heap of apologies. Of course the witch couldn't stand up to him, no more than he could cast one of her spells. She was in his realm now, and that was right where he wanted her to stay.

Annalee was no supermodel but damn if she didn't look good on her knees. Seeing her there made his temptation to drain her dry here and now simmer down a little.

"Hushhhhhh…" he said and stepped close, crouching by her side, caressing a cold and calculated finger along her cheek, down her neck, over the still fresh wound at her neck. The wounds he'd put there.

"I understand you are desperate to make amends," he breathed, smelling her hair. "As you should be." The sight of the water gathering in her eyes made his heart beat even harder, his mouth water. Hells, he was thirstier than ever, despite drinking from her moments ago, or maybe it was because of it.

"But this is not something that can just slide in to forgetfulness. Not without recompense," he brushed the tip of his nose against hers in a way which was both intimate and entirely void of affection.

"I'm a man of my word, Ana, you know that." He cupped her face in both his hands. "I promised to only take a little from you tonight and so I did. But more blood is owed to me. If it's not to be yours then... it's time for our Timothy Oglevee Crompton of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons to pay his debt." The tip of his thumb traced the outline of her lips. "Bring me his blood, Ana. Then maybe this little mistake of yours can pass, and you and I can... well..." his eyes sparkled, his smile was as exact as it was dazzling.

[Rolling Hypnotic on Annalee: 1+6+2=9 The hypnosis works but she realises exactly what he's done to her]

[Anarion]

Annalee trembles when she's touched. A tear trickles from her eye and down her cheek, rolling slowly and lazily to hang on the edge of her chin, leaving its dark trail behind it and unwilling to fall. Then she gazes into Samael's sparkling eyes and she forgets everything but the shining smile and how good the touch of his nose felt.

He speaks, and it's like her whole world is filled with light and joy. He wants blood. Little Timmy's blood. Of course. Timmy had skipped out on Samael when Annalee had visited the other night. That was extremely rude of him. He should know better than to treat the master that way. There was nothing for it but to bring him in for compensation.

"Of course, master," she says, allowing him to hold her close as long as he wishes it. "I will fetch him as soon as you permit me to leave. Shall I bring him here?"

Inside Annalee's mind, a part of her was screaming. It recognized that she was under enchantment and it pounded and pounded at the walls of her mind, but for now, that little part of her was buried deeply: buried beneath vampiric magic and beneath survival instinct. So it screamed impotently and plotted, plotted its revenge. Oh yes, when its time came, it would be sweet indeed. Nothing so crude as physical torture for Samael, not like Timothy and his poor teeth. Oh no, he needed something much more psychological in nature.

At least she had cursed Timothy already. It ought to be an easy enough matter to find him and get him to go wherever she pleased in exchange for fixing his teeth. Right?

[Elanorin]

Annalee trembles when she's touched. A tear trickles from her eye and down her cheek, rolling slowly and lazily to hang on the edge of her chin, leaving its dark trail behind it and unwilling to fall. Then she gazes into Samael's sparkling eyes and she forgets everything but the shining smile and how good the touch of his nose felt.

He speaks, and it's like her whole world is filled with light and joy. He wants blood. Little Timmy's blood. Of course. Timmy had skipped out on Samael when Annalee had visited the other night. That was extremely rude of him. He should know better than to treat the master that way. There was nothing for it but to bring him in for compensation.

"Of course, master," she says, allowing him to hold her close as long as he wishes it. "I will fetch him as soon as you permit me to leave. Shall I bring him here?"

Inside Annalee's mind, a part of her was screaming. It recognized that she was under enchantment and it pounded and pounded at the walls of her mind, but for now, that little part of her was buried deeply: buried beneath vampiric magic and beneath survival instinct. So it screamed impotently and plotted, plotted its revenge. Oh yes, when its time came, it would be sweet indeed. Nothing so crude as physical torture for Samael, not like Timothy and his poor teeth. Oh no, he needed something much more psychological in nature.

At least she had cursed Timothy already. It ought to be an easy enough matter to find him and get him to go wherever she pleased in exchange for fixing his teeth. Right?

It never ceased to delight him to see someone so completely enthralled by him and so eager to please him. A jolt of delight hit him and for a flash his smile was even genuine. She'd even called him 'master' and the sound of it had been so unexpectedly good that Samael even missed a beat before answering.

Damn, if there was any way in hell he could keep her in this thrall permanently, he would.

"No, bring him to my room. Maybe he'll stop spying on me if we forge memories too traumatic for him to want to see my room ever again."

He stood up and even offered a hand to help her up too.

"You may go now, Ana," he said with a nod, knowing he'd see her again soon and with his bounty too. He couldn't wait to drain Crompton utterly dry.

"By the way," he added before she'd had a chance to disappear, "my bite looks good on you. You shouldn't hide it."

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
ABSOLUTELY MORTIFIED

“Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad”

Elodie, Aristi Cthonia Neotera, scrambles up to her sepulchral feet, brushing off her regal gown of black lace. As always, in the realm of the dead, her face is serene and unmoving, wreathed in flowers and pink hair trailing off into forever. This makes her flustered complaints and her gasping and wheezing for fresh air even more out-of-place.

“I wasn’t— I’m not— that wasn’t— I was being kidnapped, Dad, by the Quiz Team! And even if I was— with a werewolf, Dad? Really? Even if I was, that’s none of your business, and... and the reason I’m like, like this,” she says, gesturing with an iron gauntlet at her serene face, “is because werewolves stink, and... ugh! We weren’t! And you’re not allowed to watch if I do!! Okay?? I am not going to have you giving Timmy tips about ~the little death~!!!”

She stamps her foot, raising a puff of dust in the air which will take a century to settle once more, and a millennia before it is disturbed again.

Notably, she has not noticed you, Timothy. Nor has she pushed back on that reference to you dating. Which definitely doesn’t have anything to do with feelings of being in second place and needing to rush before Annalee gets her claws in you deep, noooooo. Not at all.

[Thanqol]

OH REALLY NOW, IT IS NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF, said the Primordial Ending affably. LOTS OF PEOPLE DIE FROM PARTYING TOO HARD EVERY YEAR. IN FACT, IT IS WIDELY REGARDED AS "HIP" AND "COOL" AND "HAPPENING". BEING A PSYCHOPOMP ISN'T ALL GRIM BUSINESS, YOU KNOW, AND I, DEATH, THE REAPER MAN, YOUR OLD MAN, AM QUITE A "HIT" WITH THE KIDS. LIKE THIS NICE MARGOT GIRL. SHE'S SENT A FAIR FEW PEOPLE MY WAY ALREADY, I RECKON SHE COULD TEACH YOU A FEW MORE THINGS THAN SHE ALREADY HAS, OH HO HO. YOU SHOULD STICK WITH HER, SHE'LL PROVIDE A STEADY FLOW OF PEOPLE WHO NEED TO BE GUIDED INTO THE AFTERLIFE.

Death has always been something of an egotist, and nothing delights him more than seeing representations of himself in the mortal realm. Death metal album covers, video game cartridges, 5th century illuminated manuscripts and other works of macabre/tacky art decorate the walls of his ominous sanctum. You never have been able to fully shake the impression that his major motivating force in deciding to have a daughter was deciding how much he liked the female depiction of Death in the Sandman comic book.

[TheAmishPirate]

G'eldriia, for her part, is doing her level best to drag her overloaded shopping bag along behind her. It is very hard work! Lifting two people is no joke!

Little did G'eldriia realize, she was dragging her bag right past the most precious prize of all, who could do nothing but stare at her as she exited the cafeteria. Yes, yes, his escape from a sea of dooms was important, but that could wait. He'd gotten away with it. He'd marched up, cut the bonds on a werewolf, left G'eldriia a nasty surprise for when she opened that bag, and left. And that was...it? No consequences? No harm? No looming disaster ready to gobble him up?

Oh. Oh my. This was. Wow. This was new, wasn't it? He looked at the blank space where his hand ought to have been, and broke into an esctatic grin. And then he whooped! Because no one could hear him! And no one would! Ha ha!

True, he didn't quite understand how this was all happening, but nevermind all that. He was invisible! Untraceable! Untouchable! Un...botherable? Was that a word? Oh who cares, who could tell him otherwise? Ha ha! He could spend a whole evening unmolested. He could sleep for days and never get caught. He could get a head start on his homework...

His homework!

Elodie!

Confound it all, G'eldriia had taken her! And he still needed her to do something nice for him, or else he'd be stuck in Limbo forever!

...stuck in Detention forever! That's...yes, that's what he'd meant.

Right. He'd not get anything done standing around here all night. With his newfound powers, he'd waltz right into G'eldriia's lair, and get Elodie to hold up her end of the bargain. And while he was at it?

Maybe G'eldriia ought to have more to worry about than bothering some innocent mortal...


HELLO ELODIE.

oh no.

I WOULD LIKE TO CONGRATULATE YOU, said the Grim Reaper. DEATH DURING INTERCOURSE WAS VOTED NUMBER TWO ON REDDIT'S "COOLEST WAYS TO DIE". AND WITH A WEREWOLF NO LESS! THAT IS QUITE AN "EXTREME" ACHIEVEMENT AT YOUR AGE. I SHOULD NOT HAVE BEEN SO WORRIED WHEN YOUR AUNTIE CIRCE TOLD ME YOU WERE DATING AN ORDINARY HUMAN BEING. IT IS CLEAR TO ME NOW THAT SLEEPSHY RISE IS DOING YOU GOOD. KEEP GOING IN THIS DIRECTION AND YOU'LL BE "EXTREME" ENOUGH TO RIDE WITH YOUR OLD MAN IN NO TIME AT ALL!

Wait, who said that?


SECOND PLACE
ABSOLUTELY MORTIFIED

“Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad”

Elodie, Aristi Cthonia Neotera, scrambles up to her sepulchral feet, brushing off her regal gown of black lace. As always, in the realm of the dead, her face is serene and unmoving, wreathed in flowers and pink hair trailing off into forever. This makes her flustered complaints and her gasping and wheezing for fresh air even more out-of-place.

“I wasn’t— I’m not— that wasn’t— I was being kidnapped, Dad, by the Quiz Team! And even if I was— with a werewolf, Dad? Really? Even if I was, that’s none of your business, and... and the reason I’m like, like this,” she says, gesturing with an iron gauntlet at her serene face, “is because werewolves stink, and... ugh! We weren’t! And you’re not allowed to watch if I do!! Okay?? I am not going to have you giving Timmy tips about ~the little death~!!!”

She stamps her foot, raising a puff of dust in the air which will take a century to settle once more, and a millennia before it is disturbed again.

Notably, she has not noticed you, Timothy. Nor has she pushed back on that reference to you dating. Which definitely doesn’t have anything to do with feelings of being in second place and needing to rush before Annalee gets her claws in you deep, noooooo. Not at all.

Ack!

Timothy found himself in two places at once. Or perhaps he'd always been in two places at once, and never realized it until the spirits started talking. He was definitely walking the halls of Sleepyshine Rise, stalking after G'eldriia. He was definitely hiding in a particularly dark place in the infinite darkness. Both sights and sounds were hitting his brain all at once, and it was a good thing no one could see him stagger drunkenly through the halls as he tried to sort that one out. Eventually, with great effort, he turned his second set of eyes on the darkness, which made it sort of kind of like he was only seeing one thing at once.

Couldn't do a thing about the listening! That was still, yes, Elodie was still coming in! Loud and clear! Right!

Wait a moment. Did she say 'dad'?


OH REALLY NOW, IT IS NOTHING TO BE ASHAMED OF, said the Primordial Ending affably. LOTS OF PEOPLE DIE FROM PARTYING TOO HARD EVERY YEAR. IN FACT, IT IS WIDELY REGARDED AS "HIP" AND "COOL" AND "HAPPENING". BEING A PSYCHOPOMP ISN'T ALL GRIM BUSINESS, YOU KNOW, AND I, DEATH, THE REAPER MAN, YOUR OLD MAN, AM QUITE A "HIT" WITH THE KIDS. LIKE THIS NICE MARGOT GIRL. SHE'S SENT A FAIR FEW PEOPLE MY WAY ALREADY, I RECKON SHE COULD TEACH YOU A FEW MORE THINGS THAN SHE ALREADY HAS, OH HO HO. YOU SHOULD STICK WITH HER, SHE'LL PROVIDE A STEADY FLOW OF PEOPLE WHO NEED TO BE GUIDED INTO THE AFTERLIFE.

Death has always been something of an egotist, and nothing delights him more than seeing representations of himself in the mortal realm. Death metal album covers, video game cartridges, 5th century illuminated manuscripts and other works of macabre/tacky art decorate the walls of his ominous sanctum. You never have been able to fully shake the impression that his major motivating force in deciding to have a daughter was deciding how much he liked the female depiction of Death in the Sandman comic book.

Oh no.

Elodie was talking to the Grim Reaper. About him. About the Grim Reaper, talking to him, Timothy.

Why - erm, why would the Grim Reaper want to give him tips about...what was that, 'the little death?' Wasn't that fear? He thought he remembered hearing that was fear. So why...?

He listened intently, even as he continued after his quarry.

[Anarion]

"Oh Timmy, where are yoouuuuuu?"

Annalee was headed down the halls towards the cafeteria. She'd done as Samael asked, of course, and kept her neck uncovered. Two prominent bite marks were visible with just a hint of a line of blood running down them, no dry and a deep dark red that verged on brown. Her face was starting to bruise, but it hadn't really taken shape yet and wasn't past the point where you could tell whether she'd been attacked or she'd bumped her head on a cabinet door somewhere. That would come soon, but not yet. And anyway, right now she didn't care about any of that. She cared about finding Timothy and bringing him to Samael's room.

Her search was going to be methodical. He wasn't going to be hard to find of course, with all his yelping and being utterly out of place everywhere he went, but she couldn't search the whole school either. So she'd started with Tim and Elodie's mad dash, of course, and was therefore headed towards the cafeteria herself, calling out his name. He'd surely come running, but she was keeping her eyes open as well.

Here Timmy Timmy Timmy.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE

“You don’t get it,” Elodie moans, crumpling her fists to her face. “I was not into Margot, and we were not doing asphyxiation play. I am dating Timmy because he is a good, ordinary kid, and maybe I want to be more like him, did you think about that? He has time to spend with his family,” she says, ignoring the fact that he hasn’t been with his family at all ever since coming here, “he has time for hobbies, like his silly teatimes,” ooooof, “and people like him. People like me. And Annalee. And probably Dria? Maybe even... a-anyway! Out of everybody in that whole school, he picked me for kisses, so there. I am normal. We are going to live in a two-story house with a white picket fence and I am going to cook him dinner every day and have a book club.”

Good to know she’s already got your life planned out for you, right?

[Thanqol]

"Oh Timmy, where are yoouuuuuu?"

Annalee was headed down the halls towards the cafeteria. She'd done as Samael asked, of course, and kept her neck uncovered. Two prominent bite marks were visible with just a hint of a line of blood running down them, no dry and a deep dark red that verged on brown. Her face was starting to bruise, but it hadn't really taken shape yet and wasn't past the point where you could tell whether she'd been attacked or she'd bumped her head on a cabinet door somewhere. That would come soon, but not yet. And anyway, right now she didn't care about any of that. She cared about finding Timothy and bringing him to Samael's room.

Her search was going to be methodical. He wasn't going to be hard to find of course, with all his yelping and being utterly out of place everywhere he went, but she couldn't search the whole school either. So she'd started with Tim and Elodie's mad dash, of course, and was therefore headed towards the cafeteria herself, calling out his name. He'd surely come running, but she was keeping her eyes open as well.

Here Timmy Timmy Timmy.

G'eldriia is a messy walker. As she travels about she leaves entire corridors full of spiders and spiderwebs and trivia team recruitment posters. The spiders are working on these posters now, dipping their legs in ink and filling in blank squares with illustrations of Elodie and Margot. No sign of Tim on those, but if he's not a team member he could be serving just as reasonably as a snack.

How do you approach? And, Timmy, do you have anything in mind to respond to someone hunting you?


SECOND PLACE

“You don’t get it,” Elodie moans, crumpling her fists to her face. “I was not into Margot, and we were not doing asphyxiation play. I am dating Timmy because he is a good, ordinary kid, and maybe I want to be more like him, did you think about that? He has time to spend with his family,” she says, ignoring the fact that he hasn’t been with his family at all ever since coming here, “he has time for hobbies, like his silly teatimes,” ooooof, “and people like him. People like me. And Annalee. And probably Dria? Maybe even... a-anyway! Out of everybody in that whole school, he picked me for kisses, so there. I am normal. We are going to live in a two-story house with a white picket fence and I am going to cook him dinner every day and have a book club.”

Good to know she’s already got your life planned out for you, right?

Death ponders this for a long minute. DID YOU, he said... grimly. JUST SAY. YOU WANTED TO. SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY!?!

He brushes past you, full of swish and perk, completely disregarding everything else you said. OH HOW WONDERFUL, I AM ABSOLUTELY THRILLED TO HEAR IT, Death exclaims. THEY DO SAY IT TAKES A DEATH TO BRING A FAMILY TOGETHER, OH HO HO. YOU KNOW WHAT!? I WILL SPEAK TO THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND VOLUNTEER TO RUN A FIELD TRIP! WILL THAT NOT BE... FUN?

With a skeletal grin, the Reaper Man fades away until there are only two glowing blue pinpricks - and you jolt awake. Your material circumstances haven't significantly improved from earlier, but now there's just a fragment of fresh air coming in as the zipper on the bag begins to be undone.


"You may go now, Ana," he said with a nod, knowing he'd see her again soon and with his bounty too. He couldn't wait to drain Crompton utterly dry.

"By the way," he added before she'd had a chance to disappear, "my bite looks good on you. You shouldn't hide it."

It is a good evening.

You can feel again, Samuel. Properly. Your heart is in your chest, warmth is in your fingertips, and you aren't cold any more. All the colours are saturated and even the grim and distant threat of the ever-burning sun feels beatable. It's the best kind of buzz - like being alive again.

SAMUEL.

That part doesn't.

HELLO AGAIN, said the Grim Reaper, looming over your shoulder, scythe in one hand, hourglass in the other. AND CONGRATULATIONS ON SLIPPING FROM MY GRASP. I HAVE A DEMAND TO MAKE OF YOU.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
ABOUT TO BE SPOOKY

Elodie lingers a moment. A moment, little more, looking through the veil to the other side, where her body is pinned underneath a big sweaty werewolf jock. She’s going to have to take a deep breath of life once she steps back, and she’s about as fond of the prospect as she is fond of Analee.

(Take that statement as you will.)

Anyway. She whispers words of command, and reaches out, disturbing the veil with one spiky-armored finger.

“Show me the heart of Margot the Werewolf,” she whispers. It’s not petulant. She’s not sulking over Dad not listening to her, no. She’s not throwing her weight around way over her pay grade, nosiree. She knows exactly how to do this, theoretically.

[That’s a glorious 6 on void gazing.]

[TheAmishPirate]

SECOND PLACE

“You don’t get it,” Elodie moans, crumpling her fists to her face. “I was not into Margot, and we were not doing asphyxiation play. I am dating Timmy because he is a good, ordinary kid, and maybe I want to be more like him, did you think about that? He has time to spend with his family,” she says, ignoring the fact that he hasn’t been with his family at all ever since coming here, “he has time for hobbies, like his silly teatimes,” ooooof, “and people like him. People like me. And Annalee. And probably Dria? Maybe even... a-anyway! Out of everybody in that whole school, he picked me for kisses, so there. I am normal. We are going to live in a two-story house with a white picket fence and I am going to cook him dinner every day and have a book club.”

Good to know she’s already got your life planned out for you, right?


Death ponders this for a long minute. DID YOU, he said... grimly. JUST SAY. YOU WANTED TO. SPEND MORE TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY!?!

He brushes past you, full of swish and perk, completely disregarding everything else you said. OH HOW WONDERFUL, I AM ABSOLUTELY THRILLED TO HEAR IT, Death exclaims. THEY DO SAY IT TAKES A DEATH TO BRING A FAMILY TOGETHER, OH HO HO. YOU KNOW WHAT!? I WILL SPEAK TO THE SCHOOL ADMINISTRATION AND VOLUNTEER TO RUN A FIELD TRIP! WILL THAT NOT BE... FUN?

With a skeletal grin, the Reaper Man fades away until there are only two glowing blue pinpricks - and you jolt awake. Your material circumstances haven't significantly improved from earlier, but now there's just a fragment of fresh air coming in as the zipper on the bag begins to be undone.

Half of Timothy stood stock still in the inky nothingness long after old man Death had moved on. Not intentionally, of course. Who would want to stay in such a dreadful place? There was just. Well. A lot to take in. They say death changed a man. Who knew that death’s gossip could do it too?

So. She hadn’t meant a friendly kiss. Hadn’t meant a few other things, while she was at it. He felt his hands curl into fists. Felt a hot wash of emotion flush over his silly face. And though it was entirely unsensible, though no one anywhere had a chance of hearing him, he bit his lip ferociously to keep all the noises in. Oh, how they fought and scrambled to get loose! They demanded answers. They demanded to be heard. They demanded to set this right. Oh, but Timothy Oglevee Crompton was not born yesterday. He knew how this worked. He knew how to keep his wits about him and his head down. Settle down, heart! Settle down this instant!

There’ll be time for a talk later. He had things to do first.

The first of which was to ensure the downfall of a particular spider and her loathsome quiz bowl team. And the best possible way to do that in his current state was, without a doubt, also the answer to his Detention woes.

Elodie Faucher would do him a kindness by striking a blow against his enemy. So she’d have to remain in that bag a while longer.

It was only sensible.


G'eldriia is a messy walker. As she travels about she leaves entire corridors full of spiders and spiderwebs and trivia team recruitment posters. The spiders are working on these posters now, dipping their legs in ink and filling in blank squares with illustrations of Elodie and Margot. No sign of Tim on those, but if he's not a team member he could be serving just as reasonably as a snack.

How do you approach? And, Timmy, do you have anything in mind to respond to someone hunting you?


"Oh Timmy, where are yoouuuuuu?"

Annalee was headed down the halls towards the cafeteria. She'd done as Samael asked, of course, and kept her neck uncovered. Two prominent bite marks were visible with just a hint of a line of blood running down them, no dry and a deep dark red that verged on brown. Her face was starting to bruise, but it hadn't really taken shape yet and wasn't past the point where you could tell whether she'd been attacked or she'd bumped her head on a cabinet door somewhere. That would come soon, but not yet. And anyway, right now she didn't care about any of that. She cared about finding Timothy and bringing him to Samael's room.

Her search was going to be methodical. He wasn't going to be hard to find of course, with all his yelping and being utterly out of place everywhere he went, but she couldn't search the whole school either. So she'd started with Tim and Elodie's mad dash, of course, and was therefore headed towards the cafeteria herself, calling out his name. He'd surely come running, but she was keeping her eyes open as well.

Here Timmy Timmy Timmy.

Half of Timothy whipped his head around, before realizing that people typically don’t shout, “Where are yoouuuuuu?” when they’ve already spotted you. No threats. He was safe. The mission was still on. Breathe, Crompton. Breathe.

He saw Annie following the same trail as him, lurking farther back. He could also see that she’d. Aherm. Finished her homework already. And could use a bandage, by the looks of it. Eghhhhh. Whatever might she want from him now? (Well. She might want one thing (no no no no no bad thoughts bad thoughts bad thoughts (wait how did Elodie know about that (oh NO DEATH KNOWS ABOUT THAT (AUGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH)))))

Well! Look! He was busy! And she! Would just have to wait!

[Anarion]

CREEP
WHIPPED
HELLA MIND CONTROLLED



Well! Look! He was busy! And she! Would just have to wait!

Annalee Sokolov did not like to wait. She was a busy witch! And master Samael was expecting her with Timmy soon. But he was nowhere to be found. Frustrating, very frustrating. Timmy had promised to make tea and he and Elodie had definitely sprinted off this way the instant they could get out of detention, so she had to be on the right track. The cafeteria was one of the only places to make tea besides: the monstrous inhabitants generally preferred other sorts of drink and it had been weeks since the last seminar on doilies and tea cozies. She had to be on the right track.

Take stock, Annalee. Tim always caused a stir because he was so vulnerable, and Elodie generally made a big mess of things too. So there were a few possibilities. She started counting off on her fingers.
One, Elodie had spirited them away somewhere. Possible, but unlikely if he was trying to make her tea. Still, if so, somebody here would have seen something.
Two, They had finished their activities and had spirited away somewhere more private. That would be giving Elly-belly a lot of credit. Like, a LOT of credit. Ruling that option out.
Three, they were both dead. Mental note to check the infirmary, but still best to question someone here first.
Four, they were hiding. That seemed unlikey, there would be more of a stir in that case.
Five, they had never come here in the first place. Elodie was flighty enough for it, but again, limited tea options made this unlikely. Though she made a note to check Timmy's room for illegal Bergamot if she didn't find them elsewhere.
Six, they were kidnapped and inside G'eldriia's sack. Okay, let's be real it's that one.

"G'eldriia, pop quiz!" Annalee says, walking right up in front of her and getting in her face. "Where's Timothy and Elodie? Answer correctly and your prize will be the rare opportunity to keep all your limbs today!" She snaps her fingers in front of G'eldriia's myriad eyes and they crackle with a little magic to emphasize the point. She just had to make sure this went quickly and the quiz spider didn't get a chance to have her little underlings immobilize Annalee.

[Rolling to keep cool in the attempt to surprise G'eldriia into giving away some information. 3+2+2=7. I am worried about being immobilized by spiders, and have gotten the result where I can pull this off, but there's a risk or a trade off.]

[Thanqol]

SECOND PLACE
ABOUT TO BE SPOOKY

Elodie lingers a moment. A moment, little more, looking through the veil to the other side, where her body is pinned underneath a big sweaty werewolf jock. She’s going to have to take a deep breath of life once she steps back, and she’s about as fond of the prospect as she is fond of Analee.

(Take that statement as you will.)

Anyway. She whispers words of command, and reaches out, disturbing the veil with one spiky-armored finger.

“Show me the heart of Margot the Werewolf,” she whispers. It’s not petulant. She’s not sulking over Dad not listening to her, no. She’s not throwing her weight around way over her pay grade, nosiree. She knows exactly how to do this, theoretically.

[That’s a glorious 6 on void gazing.]

There's a trick to this move to avoid accidentally pulling the subject's heart out of their chest and into your hands still beating so you can show it to them before they die. You've got to focus on the emotions. You've got to make sure you're being Metaphorical and Symbolic and Ethereal because otherwise you wind up with hands covered in a constant flow of blood and need to look into building a spiritual drainage system to get rid of it even for a day. So you're focusing on heart in terms of emotions, the heart in terms of love, the heart in terms of - oh whoops, you thought about ripping it out of her chest in the midst of all that.

Good news, though! You didn't rip the blood-transfer organ out of anyone's chest! You just accidentally ripped her emotional heart out of her chest and in the intangibly sticky way that hearts have it's gotten its emotions all over you just as dramatically if you'd been soaked in blood. So, uh, whoops. You've just answered your own question: you are now what is in the heart of Margot the Werewolf. Not just love, but all her emotions have just become totally fixated on you until you find a way to scrub it clean. Good luck!


"G'eldriia, pop quiz!" Annalee says, walking right up in front of her and getting in her face. "Where's Timothy and Elodie? Answer correctly and your prize will be the rare opportunity to keep all your limbs today!" She snaps her fingers in front of G'eldriia's myriad eyes and they crackle with a little magic to emphasize the point. She just had to make sure this went quickly and the quiz spider didn't get a chance to have her little underlings immobilize Annalee.

[Rolling to keep cool in the attempt to surprise G'eldriia into giving away some information. 3+2+2=7. I am worried about being immobilized by spiders, and have gotten the result where I can pull this off, but there's a risk or a trade off.]

G'eldriia keeps an absolutely incredible poker face for someone who has multiple bodies stuffed into a duffel bag.

She's reached the Quiz Team Catacombs by the time you find her. It's thick with spiderwebs and the particularly dense, softly struggling clumps of webbing that represent sleeping Quiz Teamers. Tiny little spiders hang from the shoulders of the team members squeaking recitations of facts and riddles into their captive audiences. It's amazing how good total sensory deprivation is good for focusing the mind on trivia!

"That's a poorly phrased question," she says. "The answer is 'nowhere', because the two of them are not currently together. If you want accuracy then you need to phrase it as 'what is the current location of Elodie?' rather than trying to cram multiple questions ungrammatically into a single sentence. Do not worry, though! You'll and her will have plenty of time to learn the specifics during your Quiz Team Training!"

So the good news is that you know that Elodie is over there in that bag, and all you need to do is run over there and open that bag, and then everything will be fine. There is some small risk depending on who else is in that bag now that you know it's not Timmy, but how bad could that be?

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET

Sleeping Beauty opens her eyes slowly, her lids fluttering as she returns from the land of eternal slumber. Her pink hair is matted to her forehead, slick with perspiration. The webbing around the lower half of her face, so thick it seems a solid white, brings out the startling green of her eyes. Green like spring leaves and new grass, like life itself, as if she were Kore rising from the earth to make new spring.

She takes a deep breath, and her eyes cross as she groans, breathily, her body writhing in its silk bonds.

This is because the smell is intolerable, but nobody tell Margot that, because she has her heart’s fixation wiggling and moaning beneath her in the most distracting way possible, pushing up against her, trying desperately to get out from underneath a crushingly heavy, musky werewolf.

Elodie is not actually good at planning ahead.

[12 on Turn Margot On, because the dice have an Agenda]

[Anarion]

Annalee blinks, once. Then she is diving past G'eldriia and pulling open the zipper on that duffel bag, come what may. She got that Elly-belly is here and Timmy isn't, and that means she needs to be somewhere else to find Timmy. Getting entangled in spiderwebs and bitten by paralyzing poison just doesn't mesh with those plans.

"Elodie, so help me, why are you being kidnapped by the quiz team AGAIN! And Where is Timmy? You didn't leave him alone just so you could get kidnapped did you?"

[I'm not sure if this is playing out the consequences of the previous roll or if I need to roll again. Also, vague reminder that Margot did owe Annalee a favor as of the start of this scene, which I would totally cash in for not being torn apart in the first 5 seconds of this meeting.]

[Elanorin]

SAVAGE



It is a good evening.

You can feel again, Samuel. Properly. Your heart is in your chest, warmth is in your fingertips, and you aren't cold any more. All the colours are saturated and even the grim and distant threat of the ever-burning sun feels beatable. It's the best kind of buzz - like being alive again.

SAMUEL.


Sam froze on the spot, even his facial expression froze in to some blank and hollow echo of the smug satisfaction that had been on it a second ago. A second before That Voice had spoken from just a non-existent breath behind him.

He slowly turned, and took a subtle step back, just to observe personal space, you understand.


HELLO AGAIN, said the Grim Reaper, looming over your shoulder, scythe in one hand, hourglass in the other. AND CONGRATULATIONS ON SLIPPING FROM MY GRASP. I HAVE A DEMAND TO MAKE OF YOU.

He eyed DEATH skull to metatarsals to skull before finally managing to relax his face to calm.

"Thank you," Samael was nothing if not polite.

"And what is that?" he then asked, doing his level best to let the distaste of the word 'demand' pass unnoticed.

[Thanqol]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET

Sleeping Beauty opens her eyes slowly, her lids fluttering as she returns from the land of eternal slumber. Her pink hair is matted to her forehead, slick with perspiration. The webbing around the lower half of her face, so thick it seems a solid white, brings out the startling green of her eyes. Green like spring leaves and new grass, like life itself, as if she were Kore rising from the earth to make new spring.

She takes a deep breath, and her eyes cross as she groans, breathily, her body writhing in its silk bonds.

This is because the smell is intolerable, but nobody tell Margot that, because she has her heart’s fixation wiggling and moaning beneath her in the most distracting way possible, pushing up against her, trying desperately to get out from underneath a crushingly heavy, musky werewolf.

Elodie is not actually good at planning ahead.

[12 on Turn Margot On, because the dice have an Agenda]

Margot is ordinarily a little bit cool, a little bit distant, a little bit restrained - you have to be when strong emotions make your fingernails grow out so sharp and hard they've got to be industrially sanded down. Unfortunately she's just met emotions strong enough to bench press a car - and there's only really one way her morphologically unstable body knows how to process that.


Annalee blinks, once. Then she is diving past G'eldriia and pulling open the zipper on that duffel bag, come what may. She got that Elly-belly is here and Timmy isn't, and that means she needs to be somewhere else to find Timmy. Getting entangled in spiderwebs and bitten by paralyzing poison just doesn't mesh with those plans.

"Elodie, so help me, why are you being kidnapped by the quiz team AGAIN! And Where is Timmy? You didn't leave him alone just so you could get kidnapped did you?"

[I'm not sure if this is playing out the consequences of the previous roll or if I need to roll again. Also, vague reminder that Margot did owe Annalee a favor as of the start of this scene, which I would totally cash in for not being torn apart in the first 5 seconds of this meeting.]

And then there's light. And then there are people - people who aren't the most incredible person in the universe. And there are no binds on her wrists and the sense of danger everywhere and it's not a rational human brain doing the thinking.

Some werewolves are shaggy, oily, muscle-lean monsters. Margot isn't in that line. Her fur is a fiery orange fading into white, eyes like emeralds - a sacred sort of death. She hurls you across the room into G'eldriia, Annalee, sending the two of you sprawling to the floor. And then she's looming across the room, bright and wild and holy, promising the worst trip to the infirmary you've ever had.


He eyed DEATH skull to metatarsals to skull before finally managing to relax his face to calm.

"Thank you," Samael was nothing if not polite.

"And what is that?" he then asked, doing his level best to let the distaste of the word 'demand' pass unnoticed.

MY DAUGHTER ELODIE, oh no, IS ONE OF YOUR STUDENTS, oh no no no no, AND I HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THE DIRECTION OF HER EDUCATION oh no no no no no this is much worse than a meeting with the Reaper, this is a parent-teacher interview.

I WHILE I LAUD THE GENERAL ENVIRONMENT OF HOSTILITY IN SLEEPSHY, Thanatos went on, I FEEL LIKE THINGS COULD YET BECOME MORE... DANGEROUS.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET
FULL OF WIGGLES

“Sssooo uuuhh, Uuhhll’ee!” That was totally uncalled for! She’s only been kidnapped by the quiz team once before and that only ended with Timmy dying a little bit, so lay off, okay?? Just because you are bossy and mean and scary doesn’t mean you can be bossy and mean and scary at Elodie right now while she’s all disheveled and trying desperately to breathe fresh, clean air that hasn’t curdled into werewolf musk.

And then there is a magical transformation sequence. It’s... it’s the sort of thing you can’t look away from. You have to watch the ribbons of light, the way this dork/jock hybrid blossoms into a sleek, silky firewolf, a phoenix of fang and claw, shining from her eyes and heart!

...t-the fluttering in her heart is just because of the accidental connection. The heat is because trapped in duffel bag. The way she wants to squirm under that luxurious pelt while getting nuzzles and reassuring licks...

...botched heart ritual! Botched heart ritual! Even if she looks like a goddess, she still stinks like a wet dog, and having fluttery tummy feelings about a werewolf is not normal and she really needs her little Timmy to come and pick her up in a bridal carry and whisk her away like a hero!

She flops out of the duffel bag and screams at the top of her lungs for Timmy! And... well, you can almost hear her over the sound of Margot’s growling, so that’s something, right?

Good thing all that wiggling and squeaking and mewling into all that sticky spider silk won’t be interpreted by Margot as egging her on or encouraging her to get on with the mauling and save her damsel in distress! Yep, no way that might get Margot even more fired up (for disemboweling).

save Elodie — whether Elodie wants it or not — and to give Timmy the condition JEALOUS.]

[Anarion]

CREEP
WHIPPED
SURVIVAL INSTINCT SUPPRESSING HYPNOTISM

"What the he-ooof" the breath goes flying out of Annalee and she hurtles into G'eldriia, sending the both of them toppling to the ground.

Panic instinct! Big wolf! Big, fiery wolf! Spiders! Web! Run away! Run run run! Annalee's body is trying to go through a series of motions to make this happen, but she's on top of G'eldriia and it's just getting the two of them more tangled up, not leading to her running away. She has to find Timmy, but even vampire hypnotism is getting suppressed in the name of pure animal instinct shouting at her to be NOT HERE even as her feet are kicking G'eldriia repeatedly in the stomach and she can't get up because her hands are getting caught in the spider silk on the floor!

[Tried to run away. 2+4-1=5.]

[TheAmishPirate]

JEALOUS

Timothy had a brilliant idea.

This was a den of brazen criminals. So many students, sleeping, right here in the open. One word to the right ears, and down falls the hammer of justice on the itsy bitsy spider. Splat!

Wait. Not on the itsy bitsy spider. On the sleeping students. Because the rule clearly said “no sleeping”, not “no facilitating sleeping.” G’eldriia would walk scott-free while her victims rotted in Detention. How silly of him! He’d forgotten this was a dumb school run by rubbish people. Ughhhhhhhhh.

Timothy had another, still pretty good but not quite as brilliant plan.

He would free the entire Quiz Bowl Team from G’eldriia’s lair, thus depriving her of the membership quota necessary to run her club, which would get her in hot water with the administration. Club dissolved, and kicked out of the catacombs to reclaim the space. But it wouldn’t be so simple. With all her little spider helpers, he couldn’t just go cutting students free like he’d done with Margot. They’d tie the webs as quickly as he cut them. Or worse, alert G’eldriia. What he needed was a distraction…


Margot is ordinarily a little bit cool, a little bit distant, a little bit restrained - you have to be when strong emotions make your fingernails grow out so sharp and hard they've got to be industrially sanded down. Unfortunately she's just met emotions strong enough to bench press a car - and there's only really one way her morphologically unstable body knows how to process that.


And then there's light. And then there are people - people who aren't the most incredible person in the universe. And there are no binds on her wrists and the sense of danger everywhere and it's not a rational human brain doing the thinking.

Some werewolves are shaggy, oily, muscle-lean monsters. Margot isn't in that line. Her fur is a fiery orange fading into white, eyes like emeralds - a sacred sort of death. She hurls you across the room into G'eldriia, Annalee, sending the two of you sprawling to the floor. And then she's looming across the room, bright and wild and holy, promising the worst trip to the infirmary you've ever had.

Fortunately, G’eldriia just so happened to have spent a great deal of time and effort to drag a distraction and distraction enabler right into her lair.

With the boldness of a freshly minted invisible man, Timothy strode to where Elodie had fallen to set his plan into motion.


save Elodie — whether Elodie wants it or not — and to give Timmy the condition JEALOUS.]

...one moment.

The plan needed an alteration.


She flops out of the duffel bag and screams at the top of her lungs for Timmy! And... well, you can almost hear her over the sound of Margot’s growling, so that’s something, right?

Good thing all that wiggling and squeaking and mewling into all that sticky spider silk won’t be interpreted by Margot as egging her on or encouraging her to get on with the mauling and save her damsel in distress! Yep, no way that might get Margot even more fired up (for disemboweling).

Elodie, as you lay there screaming your head off, you feel a slip of paper being pressed into your hand. A little note, written in a flowing cursive hand you’d recognize anywhere. (And who else would think to bring pen and paper into a spider’s lair?)


Elodie,

Keep G’eldriia distracted.

Sincerely,

T.O.C.

PS: Sic Margot on her or something, that should work.

And as you read it, something sharp and decidedly spoon-like gets the better of the remaining webbing still tying you up.

[Thanqol]

Annalee, you're in trouble. G'eldriia has grabbed you as you've tried to escape and is wielding you as a human shield between herself and Margot. Your wrists are tied with webbing, your arms are being held, and there's a devastating and devastatingly attractive spirit werewolf who does not care if she has to go through you to get to Elodie. And what's worst of all is just how off your breathing is in this situation and how totally unsure you are what part of this, exactly, is responsible for that.

[G'eldriia and Margot both take a string on you.]

"Darling, how did you get out of my web?" G'eldriia said, voice right by your ear Annalee - you can feel the warmth of her breath as she addresses Margot. "That's knowledge worth paying for. If you can answer it I will let one of you go free from here, and wouldn't that be nice?" She shifts to the left, trying to get a clear line of sight at Elodie - Margot shifts in response, snarling, keeping herself firmly interposed between G'eldriia and Elodie, crushing any spiders that try to sneak around her sides.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET

“Margot, wait!”

Elodie rushes to her side, holds one sleek wrist in her hands, looks up with those shining springtime eyes. Everyone holds their breath. Even the spiders spinning their webs.

She smiles like an angel.

“If you go through Annalee you can get both her and G’eldriia in one swipe!”

<3

[Anarion]

CREEP
WHIPPED

Annalee starts laughing incredulously. Just completely loses it for a moment, It's enough to give pause to anybody, even G'eldriia and Margot. The Witch has gone crazy, you know how it is, nobody wants a curse to the face.

When she finally catches her breath, she looks around as best she can, right at Elodie. "Oh. My. God! Elly-belly, wow, this is just...hahaha, this is pathetic. You really can't handle being second place to anybody! I just, I can't even! Wow. You're so head over heels in love with Timmy that you're willing to manipulate a werewolf to kill me for it. I just, I'm flattered really, if you weren't being such a bitch about it. Sorry to break it to you, Margot, but she doesn't want you at all, she's just using you to get everyone out of the way to go after little Timothy Oglevee Crompton. So, if you want Elly there, be sure to knock him off when you're done with us."

One stone, many birds.

[This speech, though directed mostly at Elodie is to shut down Margot because Elodie doesn't care about her. 2+4+2=8 I'm giving Margot the condition: UNCONTROLLABLE RAGE. Too bad Elodie is standing right next to her. Margot may give Annalee a condition in return.]

[TheAmishPirate]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET

“Margot, wait!”

Elodie rushes to her side, holds one sleek wrist in her hands, looks up with those shining springtime eyes. Everyone holds their breath. Even the spiders spinning their webs.

She smiles like an angel.

“If you go through Annalee you can get both her and G’eldriia in one swipe!”

<3

Elodie had sicced a werewolf on Annie. And G'eldriia. A werewolf, on Annie, and G'eldriia. The both of them. All at once.

That was. An exuberant reading of his letter. Straying into creative territory. He'd rather like to see her work on this one. Later? Now? A few moments ago?

Would it help any?


CREEP
WHIPPED

Annalee starts laughing incredulously. Just completely loses it for a moment, It's enough to give pause to anybody, even G'eldriia and Margot. The Witch has gone crazy, you know how it is, nobody wants a curse to the face.

When she finally catches her breath, she looks around as best she can, right at Elodie. "Oh. My. God! Elly-belly, wow, this is just...hahaha, this is pathetic. You really can't handle being second place to anybody! I just, I can't even! Wow. You're so head over heels in love with Timmy that you're willing to manipulate a werewolf to kill me for it. I just, I'm flattered really, if you weren't being such a bitch about it. Sorry to break it to you, Margot, but she doesn't want you at all, she's just using you to get everyone out of the way to go after little Timothy Oglevee Crompton. So, if you want Elly there, be sure to knock him off when you're done with us."

One stone, many birds.

[This speech, though directed mostly at Elodie is to shut down Margot because Elodie doesn't care about her. 2+4+2=8 I'm giving Margot the condition: UNCONTROLLABLE RAGE. Too bad Elodie is standing right next to her. Margot may give Annalee a condition in return.]

Oh. Hrm. Well.

Perhaps it wouldn't.

You know, it’s moments like these that remind a fellow why he decided to turn invisible in the first place.

Well! If that's the way they wanted it, then he could see that he - or any person of good sense - wasn't wanted here. And if he wasn't wanted here, then that was fine with Timothy Oglevee Crompton, because he was very busy today and really ought to get back to work. Work which began with the nearest bundled-up student, involved a particularly overworked spoon, and would end when the Quiz Catacombs were empty.

[Thanqol]

Spirit Wolf Margot was equipped the the strength, speed and grace to respond appropriately to a situation like this. Given the situation was 'a total loss of self-control', responding well was sadly not great for anyone else in the vicinity.

She takes Elodie's advice. She lunges forwards like an autumnial thunderbolt and her leg comes out in a magnificent side-kick, taking Annalee in the stomach, impact transferring perfectly through to G'eldriia behind, sending the two of them crashing out the tower window in a tangle of limbs. You barely have time to process the Scottish countryside coming up at you fast before you hit the ice cold water of Sleepshy Castle's moat.

Oh dear, you appear to have been knocked outside, Annalee. That's bad. Take the condition Truant.

Meanwhile, Elodie, the breathtaking kung fu spirit werewolf has turned around to come straight at you and you're not sure what order in which she's going to apply makeouts and maulings. She's approaching slowly, like a predator against prey it knows can't fight back, letting dread and anticipation soak in.


Oh. Hrm. Well.

Perhaps it wouldn't.

You know, it’s moments like these that remind a fellow why he decided to turn invisible in the first place.

Well! If that's the way they wanted it, then he could see that he - or any person of good sense - wasn't wanted here. And if he wasn't wanted here, then that was fine with Timothy Oglevee Crompton, because he was very busy today and really ought to get back to work. Work which began with the nearest bundled-up student, involved a particularly overworked spoon, and would end when the Quiz Catacombs were empty.

Without G'eldriia there to notice the vibrations in her webs this task could continue completely uninterrupted. Before long you've released all five abducted Quiz Team members who are standing about in a daze; tell me, Timmy, which of them were you the most keen to rescue in this way, and who are you looking at and thinking that maybe things would have been better off if they'd stayed inside the spider webs?

[Anarion]

CREEP
WHIPPED
TRUANT

Annalee leans into G'eldriia and hugs her tightly as they fall into the water, hoping to cushion the impact with the quiz captain's body. She's not really thinking so much as clinging to the spider quiz captain desperately and hoping everything turns out okay. It's a very tight, very close hug. Her arms wrapped around the taller but thinner girl. Annalee's body is pressed close, her breath going into the nape of G'eldriia's neck, the feeling of chest pressed against chest as she clings for dear life. It wouldn't be half bad if not for the sickening feeling of acceleration as they approach the moat actually.

[Turning G'eldriia on: 6+2-1=7. MC's choice on either giving Annalee a string or picking from the 7-9 list.]

[Elanorin]

MY DAUGHTER ELODIE, oh no, IS ONE OF YOUR STUDENTS, oh no no no no, AND I HAVE CONCERNS ABOUT THE DIRECTION OF HER EDUCATION oh no no no no no this is much worse than a meeting with the Reaper, this is a parent-teacher interview.

I WHILE I LAUD THE GENERAL ENVIRONMENT OF HOSTILITY IN SLEEPSHY, Thanatos went on, I FEEL LIKE THINGS COULD YET BECOME MORE... DANGEROUS.

See... normally I would agree with you.
Normally Sam would agree with you.
Normally, even the Reaper's attempt at a conversation of the this-is-where-I-as-parent-feel-you-as-representative-of-the-entire-teaching-staff-and-school-are-insuffiecient variety would ruin the vampire's day.

But then...

SAVAGE


* * *

As the part of his mind that would normally care fails to speak up from its huddled heap in the corner, Samael's shoulders relax. His air turns a carefully rehearsed polite and professionally friendly, but still, it is genuine in its own roundabout way. While Sam cares little for the quality of Elodie's education, he certainly feels inclined to agree- no encourage- this line of conversation with the Reaper. The school certainly could be more dangerous, and in truth, would that not me an unquestionably great thing?

"Mm," he says and his brows furrow in a briefly thoughtful expression as he offers a single nod. Tingling images of bloodied and panicked students flickering through his mind. "I must say, sir, I agree. I have recently been thinking along those very lines myself and would be very interested in submitting a proposal to the faculty, parental support such as yours would offer much weight. Do you have any specific thoughts on improvements in this area?"

Sam offers a hand, gesturing towards the chair Annalee sat in moments before. "Please. Sit. Can I offer you anything?"

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET

"H-hey there, Megan," Elodie says, holding one hand out reassuringly. She's using her soft, soothing voice. The kind that would make a howling poltergeist close its eyes and drift off to sleep. The kind that echoes a little weird. For all that she wants to be normal, she cheats so effortlessly, doesn't she?

(I mean, Timmy, that might just be the sort of thought that hits you in the brainpan, right? "I want to be normal, I want to be living, I'm soooo ordinary, but also I'm actually really a weird death statue in a girl suit and I have all these weird powers that I'll turn around and use no problem, and if we ever got in a fight, snoogie-buggums, I might just mind-whammy you with this.")

"Let's talk this out," she says, reaching out. She ruffles the fur on Margot's cheek. "Annalee's such a big bad liar, isn't she?" Wub wub wub around that big, gorgeously-furred wolf ear. "Isn't sheeeee?? I promise, there's an explanation, just calm down, there's a good girl, theeeeeeere's a good girl."

[I have rolled a 2 on Keeping My Cool. Ruin me.]

[TheAmishPirate]

Without G'eldriia there to notice the vibrations in her webs this task could continue completely uninterrupted. Before long you've released all five abducted Quiz Team members who are standing about in a daze; tell me, Timmy, which of them were you the most keen to rescue in this way, and who are you looking at and thinking that maybe things would have been better off if they'd stayed inside the spider webs?

This is a tale of two webs, and it is best told as such.

**********************************

Timothy sliced open the webbing, revealing the face of NAME.

And though no one could possibly hear him, he sighed audibly in relief. Hadn't he just been thinking it'd been a while since he heard her song, echoing through the halls? Yes, of course he knew the stories of what happens to folks who follow the Siren's song. But take away the dashable rocks and drownable seas, and you were left with a brightly-plumaged and totally harmless vocalist. A vocalist who was surprisingly well-versed in the more classical pieces. They'd gotten to chatting, you see, after all the other students had shook the dreams from their eyes and grumbled off to class, and, well, you see, over the next few weeks - that's not particularly important right now. Suffice to say, he wouldn't have minded a song or two from her after the day he'd had.

Now. Hrm. Perhaps he ought to wake her up? He really, well, he supposed that they'd all come awake once he'd freed them, but now that he thought that out loud it sounded rather silly, didn't it? So he should wake her up...how? He'd only really freed her face, and, oh dear, there was an awful lot of webbing here 'round the shoulders. A lot of work to get through that. Confound G'eldriia's thoroughness, he didn't have time to cut everyone so loose. He'd just start at the shoulders next time. And. Here. He'd just carefully pat at her cheek and...

Oh. Hum.

Feathers were considerably softer than he expected.

Which was an odd comparison indeed. Given that he had no expectations whatsoever about feathers. And certainly no plans to find out.

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

...moving on!

**********************************

Timothy sliced open the webbing, revealing the face of G'eldriia Despana.

Now, that couldn't be right. Unless...

Oh. Oh no.

Them.

In a school full of monsters, it took a special sort of somebody to be the absolute worst. That title belonged - by popular consensus - to the student known only as Masque. Because of course they would choose a name so pretentious. Honestly, had you ever met a soul so absolutely full of themselves? And the way they always stuck their nose into everybody's business, and couldn't help but tattle to whoever would get you in the most trouble. Ugh! You'd think such a weasel wouldn't last two minutes in such a hostile environment, but they had this knack for slipping out of trouble just as the walls came closing in. A knack that was somewhat helped by their ability to become anybody and anything. Mimic, doppelganger, who could say? Timothy certainly couldn't. He could say that it'd been a blissful few weeks without this particular headache roaming the halls, and if the plan didn't require a full jailbreak, I daresay he might've left them for spider food.

At least he didn't have to worry about informing the authorities about the Quiz Bowl Team's sudden lack of membership. Masque would be racing to the principal's office just as soon as they got their bearings.

**********************************

With the members freed, and G'eldriia nowhere to be seen, it was time for their grand escape!

Note: Said grand escape had absolutely no contingencies for spirit werewolf interference, on the grounds that Timothy had been quite cross, rather busy, and perhaps had let the matter get lost in all the hubbub.

[Thanqol]

CREEP
WHIPPED
TRUANT

Annalee leans into G'eldriia and hugs her tightly as they fall into the water, hoping to cushion the impact with the quiz captain's body. She's not really thinking so much as clinging to the spider quiz captain desperately and hoping everything turns out okay. It's a very tight, very close hug. Her arms wrapped around the taller but thinner girl. Annalee's body is pressed close, her breath going into the nape of G'eldriia's neck, the feeling of chest pressed against chest as she clings for dear life. It wouldn't be half bad if not for the sickening feeling of acceleration as they approach the moat actually.

[Turning G'eldriia on: 6+2-1=7. MC's choice on either giving Annalee a string or picking from the 7-9 list.]

Falling happens so fast. You barely have time to process what you're doing, let alone what G'eldriia is doing as she knifes her legs into points and pulls any of your exposed limbs in closer to her. When you hit the water it's her who takes the brunt of it, and when you drag yourselves together from the ice-cold Scottish loch you're fine but she's broken her arm. [G'eldriia gives herself to you in the form of shielding your landing]

Without even looking at you, G'eldriia immediately begins improvising herself a splint with broken wood and webbing. "I can't climb the wall like this," she says, voice a little unsteady but trying her best to seem detached.


SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET

"H-hey there, Megan," Elodie says, holding one hand out reassuringly. She's using her soft, soothing voice. The kind that would make a howling poltergeist close its eyes and drift off to sleep. The kind that echoes a little weird. For all that she wants to be normal, she cheats so effortlessly, doesn't she?

(I mean, Timmy, that might just be the sort of thought that hits you in the brainpan, right? "I want to be normal, I want to be living, I'm soooo ordinary, but also I'm actually really a weird death statue in a girl suit and I have all these weird powers that I'll turn around and use no problem, and if we ever got in a fight, snoogie-buggums, I might just mind-whammy you with this.")

"Let's talk this out," she says, reaching out. She ruffles the fur on Margot's cheek. "Annalee's such a big bad liar, isn't she?" Wub wub wub around that big, gorgeously-furred wolf ear. "Isn't sheeeee?? I promise, there's an explanation, just calm down, there's a good girl, theeeeeeere's a good girl."



It is not clear if this is a Horrible Shocking Violence situation or a Furious Confusing Makeouts situation. Such ambiguity is part of what it means to be a werewolf magnet. What's not ambiguous is that you are lifted right off your dainty little feet, slammed into a wall, and have talons digging into your back and teeth biting into your collar and this is not the behaviour of a good girl at all. Despite everything that you said about book clubs and housewifery before... Death does kind of have a point. You can feel the drop below you, and it's terrifying and exhilarating.

Take 1-harm and Margot takes a string on you.


With the members freed, and G'eldriia nowhere to be seen, it was time for their grand escape!

Note: Said grand escape had absolutely no contingencies for spirit werewolf interference, on the grounds that Timothy had been quite cross, rather busy, and perhaps had let the matter get lost in all the hubbub.

Well, it's a simple question for you, Timmy - Elodie is getting, uh, mauled(?) by an implausibly pretty spirit werewolf. Cutting people from spider webbing is one thing, walking close to a living engine of destruction is another. How far does this hero thing go?


As the part of his mind that would normally care fails to speak up from its huddled heap in the corner, Samael's shoulders relax. His air turns a carefully rehearsed polite and professionally friendly, but still, it is genuine in its own roundabout way. While Sam cares little for the quality of Elodie's education, he certainly feels inclined to agree- no [I]encourage- this line of conversation with the Reaper. The school certainly could be more dangerous, and in truth, would that not me an unquestionably great thing?

"Mm," he says and his brows furrow in a briefly thoughtful expression as he offers a single nod. Tingling images of bloodied and panicked students flickering through his mind. "I must say, sir, I agree. I have recently been thinking along those very lines myself and would be very interested in submitting a proposal to the faculty, parental support such as yours would offer much weight. Do you have any specific thoughts on improvements in this area?"

Sam offers a hand, gesturing towards the chair Annalee sat in moments before. "Please. Sit. Can I offer you anything?"

I BELIEVE, said Death, THAT THE BEST WAY TO GET YOUNG PEOPLE "INTO" SOMETHING IS TO MAKE IT "ROMANTIC". ELODIE HAS BEEN STUBBORN ABOUT HER DUTIES AND PLACE IN THE WORLD BUT I THINK THAT DATING THAT WEREWOLF GIRL HAS ALREADY SHAKEN THAT CONVICTION. I WOULD SUGGEST LOOKING THE OTHER WAY ON THE ROMANCE RULE IF SUCH A THING IS WITHIN YOUR POWER.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET

Hey, Timmy. How we doing? Good, good. Hey, listen. It was hard to ignore Elodie being swept quite literally off her feet and pinned up against the wall by Margot, right?

Well, what’s happening is the exact center of the venn diagram. You know the one, right? The interplay of sex and violence? Because Elodie has her hand on Margot’s head, trying to pry those terrible teeth off her neck, fingers tight in her fur, but she’s also got her legs wrapped around Margot’s waist, p-probably for stability, and it’s really, really hard to tell if those are pained screams or the other kind of screams. Her face is red and she’s running out of breath fast and gosh is this what she wanted to do with mild-mannered little you? Because, like, if she’s into this then there’s no way you could measure up. I bet you’d apologize profusely if she asked you to spank her, dweeb.

Take a 7 turn-on to the face when she moans your name, though, again, it’s hard to tell whether it’s a “save me” or “join in” moan.

[Anarion]

Annalee tries to shake some water out of her hair and wring out her shirt after she climbs ashore, listening to G'eldriia talking about climbing the walls.

"Climbing's not my specialty, but uh, thanks for the save on the fall. Are you sure you even want to go back up there right now? I was looking for Timmy and he wasn't there, and I don't see any need to go confront Elodie and her crazy rampaging werewolf girlfriend, really ever. If you really need to get back up there, I suppose I'll help, I owe you one, but after that we'll be even. I really do need to find Timothy too."

Now that she wasn't in danger, the hypnotized part of Annalee was reasserting itself, although she also had social obligations that were competing with the immediate need. If G'eldriia didn't need or want her though, she was going to use the conveniently nearby body of water to try and scry for Timothy.

[TheAmishPirate]

JEALOUS


Well, it's a simple question for you, Timmy - Elodie is getting, uh, mauled(?) by an implausibly pretty spirit werewolf. Cutting people from spider webbing is one thing, walking close to a living engine of destruction is another. How far does this hero thing go?

Heroes did nonsensical things like rush a werewolf with a spoon of above-average sharpness.

Normal people did sensible things like scamper out of the spider den and get as far away from the werewolf as possible.

Timothy Oglevee Crompton did neither.


Hey, Timmy. How we doing? Good, good. Hey, listen. It was hard to ignore Elodie being swept quite literally off her feet and pinned up against the wall by Margot, right?

what is she doing.


Well, what’s happening is the exact center of the venn diagram. You know the one, right?

he didn't know.


The interplay of sex and violence?

"but perhaps you won't care."


Because Elodie has her hand on Margot’s head, trying to pry those terrible teeth off her neck, fingers tight in her fur,

no.

no.

no.


but she’s also got her legs wrapped around Margot’s waist, p-probably for stability, and it’s really, really hard to tell if those are pained screams or the other kind of screams.

the sound.

the sound.


Her face is red and she’s running out of breath fast

feel it in his blood like fire.


and gosh is this what she wanted to do with mild-mannered little you?

it hurts.


Because, like, if she’s into this then there’s no way you could measure up.

it hurts.


I bet you’d apologize profusely if she asked you to spank her, dweeb.

no more.

no.


Take a 7 turn-on to the face when she moans your name, though, again, it’s hard to tell whether it’s a “save me” or “join in” moan.

more.

Timothy Oglevee Crompton stayed to the end.

[Elodie Faucher, take a String on him.]

[Elanorin]

I BELIEVE, said Death, THAT THE BEST WAY TO GET YOUNG PEOPLE "INTO" SOMETHING IS TO MAKE IT "ROMANTIC". ELODIE HAS BEEN STUBBORN ABOUT HER DUTIES AND PLACE IN THE WORLD BUT I THINK THAT DATING THAT WEREWOLF GIRL HAS ALREADY SHAKEN THAT CONVICTION. I WOULD SUGGEST LOOKING THE OTHER WAY ON THE ROMANCE RULE IF SUCH A THING IS WITHIN YOUR POWER.

Romantic?

Samael's knee-jerk reaction was an expression of mild distaste. It was like hearing someone suggesting to drizzle pickle juice over a delicious ice cream sundae.

Since Death seemed reluctant to take the offered seat Sam lowered himself down in to the armchair instead. Buying time, more than anything, as his mind shrugged off both the pickle juice and the ice cream. Holy hell.

He took a deep breath as he chose his words.

"I do not see how Romance would add any danger of value to the situation, Grim Reaper," Sam said, finally, voice careful and even. "Distraction is pretty much all it's good for. Public displays of affection is about as chaotic an element of distraction as you can get. That sh't spreads like wildfire. The First Rule is in place for good reason and I do not have neither the authority or the inclination to change that." His face was serious and damnit it was hard to get that taste out of his mouth.

"But..." he leaned forward, "...if what you're asking for is a specific, Elodie-only exception favour then... I can certainly assist you there." A small smile tugged at the left corner of his mouth. "Discreetly, of course."

[Thanqol]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET

Hey, Timmy. How we doing? Good, good. Hey, listen. It was hard to ignore Elodie being swept quite literally off her feet and pinned up against the wall by Margot, right?

Well, what’s happening is the exact center of the venn diagram. You know the one, right? The interplay of sex and violence? Because Elodie has her hand on Margot’s head, trying to pry those terrible teeth off her neck, fingers tight in her fur, but she’s also got her legs wrapped around Margot’s waist, p-probably for stability, and it’s really, really hard to tell if those are pained screams or the other kind of screams. Her face is red and she’s running out of breath fast and gosh is this what she wanted to do with mild-mannered little you? Because, like, if she’s into this then there’s no way you could measure up. I bet you’d apologize profusely if she asked you to spank her, dweeb.

Take a 7 turn-on to the face when she moans your name, though, again, it’s hard to tell whether it’s a “save me” or “join in” moan.


more.

Timothy Oglevee Crompton stayed to the end.

[Elodie Faucher, take a String on him.]

"See, sir?" came the fascinatingly androgynous voice of Masque as they leaned against the wall. They'd adopted their default state of a strange green-scaled slender reptilian creature with wide eyes. "It's like I told you. Kissing." They sideways-blinked, smile at once both twisted and innocent. "Why I never."

As you had suspected, Timothy, Masque had indeed run straight for the principal with as many tales to tattle as they had access to. They are followed close behind by the sleeping Lord Sleepshy, nightgown and sleeping cap on his head, withered face dozing, toothless mouth drooling slightly as he shuffled forwards. He didn't look like much before the terrible might of Margot the werewolf but he caught her reflexive backhand with supernatural reflexes and slammed her into the ground with graceless strength.

This is a Disciplinary Situation. Things could not be more terrible or dangerous. When Lord Sleepshy gets involved there is no telling what terrible changes he will wreck, and it is enough to rise fear in the heart of even the darkest supernatural.

Masque innocently checked their fingernails in the background but was plainly enjoying the situation immensely.


Annalee tries to shake some water out of her hair and wring out her shirt after she climbs ashore, listening to G'eldriia talking about climbing the walls.

"Climbing's not my specialty, but uh, thanks for the save on the fall. Are you sure you even want to go back up there right now? I was looking for Timmy and he wasn't there, and I don't see any need to go confront Elodie and her crazy rampaging werewolf girlfriend, really ever. If you really need to get back up there, I suppose I'll help, I owe you one, but after that we'll be even. I really do need to find Timothy too."

Now that she wasn't in danger, the hypnotized part of Annalee was reasserting itself, although she also had social obligations that were competing with the immediate need. If G'eldriia didn't need or want her though, she was going to use the conveniently nearby body of water to try and scry for Timothy.

"What is wrong with you!?" G'eldriia hissed in a completely uncharacteristic display of emotion. "We're outside the castle! The Angel is going to come for us! I can't afford detention, not when I'm this close -"

She broke off suddenly, recomposing herself and starting to stalk around the edge of the moat, staring at the castle walls hatefully, trying to figure out weak points. She'll be at this for a good while if you need to perform magic.


Romantic?

Samael's knee-jerk reaction was an expression of mild distaste. It was like hearing someone suggesting to drizzle pickle juice over a delicious ice cream sundae.

Since Death seemed reluctant to take the offered seat Sam lowered himself down in to the armchair instead. Buying time, more than anything, as his mind shrugged off both the pickle juice and the ice cream. Holy hell.

He took a deep breath as he chose his words.

"I do not see how Romance would add any danger of value to the situation, Grim Reaper," Sam said, finally, voice careful and even. "Distraction is pretty much all it's good for. Public displays of affection is about as chaotic an element of distraction as you can get. That sh't spreads like wildfire. The First Rule is in place for good reason and I do not have neither the authority or the inclination to change that." His face was serious and damnit it was hard to get that taste out of his mouth.

"But..." he leaned forward, "...if what you're asking for is a specific, Elodie-only exception favour then... I can certainly assist you there." A small smile tugged at the left corner of his mouth. "Discreetly, of course."

I APPRECIATE YOUR COMPLIANCE IN THIS MATTER, said Death Incarnate. I DO NOT CARE WHO SHE ENDS UP WITH SO LONG AS THEY REPRESENT A SUFFICIENTLY BAD INFLUENCE - AND SO LONG AS IT IS NOT THAT CROMPTON CHARACTER.

[Elanorin]

I APPRECIATE YOUR COMPLIANCE IN THIS MATTER, said Death Incarnate. I DO NOT CARE WHO SHE ENDS UP WITH SO LONG AS THEY REPRESENT A SUFFICIENTLY BAD INFLUENCE - AND SO LONG AS IT IS NOT THAT CROMPTON CHARACTER.

SAVAGE

The look in Samael's eyes darkened a shade at the mention of Timothy Oglevee Crompton of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons.

"The human," Samael spat with even more distaste than the romance notion, not to mention a fair bit of frustration. How long was Ana going to take with bringing him anyway? Damn he was still thirsty.

The vampire eyed Death Incarnate over once more as the opportunity in the air revealed itself to him. His skin began to buzz with thirst and ambition.

"What would a personal guarantee that it won't be him be worth to you, Reaper?"

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET

Okay, so here’s the thing. This is Sleepshy. It’s still much more likely that she’s getting punked by somebody than that Timmy somehow has acquired invisibility, super speed, telekinesis, and/or paperkinesis... but if there’s a chance? If Timmy’s in a room with Lord Sleepshy?

He needs to get out.

“Timmy,” she shrieks, wiggling out desperately from Margot’s grasp, tearing her shirt and not a little bit of skin, “if you’re still in here,” and gosh she’s got a set of pipes on her, she might as well be a dog whistle, “then you need to not be! Please, get out of here, don’t worry about me! I’d—“

She gulps, as an inconvenient strap gets hooked on a claw, and blurts put something both painfully true and factually untrue, depending on how you look at it.

“I’d just slow you down! Get going!”

And with that she begins her mad scramble out of Lord Sleepyshy’s way.

[That’s a 10 on Run Away, I repeat, a 10 on Running Away.]

[Anarion]

CREEP
WHIPPED
TRUANT

Annalee gives a shrug. "I'm more interested in not avoiding immediate suffering and finding Timothy. We're outside, it happened, we should definitely get back in before we're missed, but why you'd want to get back to the room with the angry werewolf is beyond me."

A beat, Annalee rubs her arms and stretches.

"And, while I'm here, I get rare access to a natural scrying pool. Enchanted moat and everything."

She wanders over to the surface of the moat. She doesn't have a dagger or anything really sharp on her, so she settles for biting her finger to get a few drops of blood and dipping it into the moat. She starts to chant, soft, dark speech, beseeching the powers that enchant this castle to answer her call. She asks them to find Timothy and to show her a path to him, offering her blood in exchange for their sight.

[2+3+1=6. Miss on Gazing into the Abyss. I would suggest something where the powers that be in the castle have other plans for a whipped and obedient witch.]

[TheAmishPirate]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET

Okay, so here’s the thing. This is Sleepshy. It’s still much more likely that she’s getting punked by somebody than that Timmy somehow has acquired invisibility, super speed, telekinesis, and/or paperkinesis... but if there’s a chance? If Timmy’s in a room with Lord Sleepshy?

He needs to get out.

“Timmy,” she shrieks, wiggling out desperately from Margot’s grasp, tearing her shirt and not a little bit of skin, “if you’re still in here,” and gosh she’s got a set of pipes on her, she might as well be a dog whistle, “then you need to not be! Please, get out of here, don’t worry about me! I’d—“

She gulps, as an inconvenient strap gets hooked on a claw, and blurts put something both painfully true and factually untrue, depending on how you look at it.

“I’d just slow you down! Get going!”

And with that she begins her mad scramble out of Lord Sleepyshy’s way.

[That’s a 10 on Run Away, I repeat, a 10 on Running Away.]

And that was precisely the kick in the trousers necessary to wake Timothy from his shock, and arouse that most vital instinct:

Run.


Masque innocently checked their fingernails in the background but was plainly enjoying the situation immensely.

Unfortunately for Masque, there was not an equally vital instinct urging an orderly evacuation. And they had chosen...well, perhaps for Timothy's sake, we shan't get into the nitty gritty of where exactly they were standing at the time. It is enough to say that Timothy's wild flight took him near, and while he continued on one way Masque flew bodily in the other direction.

Straight towards Disciplinary Action.

[Rolling to Lash Out Violently: 2 + 6 + 2 = 10]

And our Timothy fled not a moment too soon. By the time he'd fled the Quiz Dungeon and torn off towards the safety of his room, his hands had grown concerningly visible...

[Escaping Darkest Self, and rolling to Run Away: 1 + 4 + 2 = 7 Timothy has a piping hot slice of emotional trauma to unpack, and it sounds like he won't be alone for it. I think that means he's running into something worse.]

[Thanqol]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET

Okay, so here’s the thing. This is Sleepshy. It’s still much more likely that she’s getting punked by somebody than that Timmy somehow has acquired invisibility, super speed, telekinesis, and/or paperkinesis... but if there’s a chance? If Timmy’s in a room with Lord Sleepshy?

He needs to get out.

“Timmy,” she shrieks, wiggling out desperately from Margot’s grasp, tearing her shirt and not a little bit of skin, “if you’re still in here,” and gosh she’s got a set of pipes on her, she might as well be a dog whistle, “then you need to not be! Please, get out of here, don’t worry about me! I’d—“

She gulps, as an inconvenient strap gets hooked on a claw, and blurts put something both painfully true and factually untrue, depending on how you look at it.

“I’d just slow you down! Get going!”

And with that she begins her mad scramble out of Lord Sleepyshy’s way.

[That’s a 10 on Run Away, I repeat, a 10 on Running Away.]


Unfortunately for Masque, there was not an equally vital instinct urging an orderly evacuation. And they had chosen...well, perhaps for Timothy's sake, we shan't get into the nitty gritty of where exactly they were standing at the time. It is enough to say that Timothy's wild flight took him near, and while he continued on one way Masque flew bodily in the other direction.

Straight towards Disciplinary Action.

[Rolling to Lash Out Violently: 2 + 6 + 2 = 10]

And our Timothy fled not a moment too soon. By the time he'd fled the Quiz Dungeon and torn off towards the safety of his room, his hands had grown concerningly visible...

[Escaping Darkest Self, and rolling to Run Away: 1 + 4 + 2 = 7 Timothy has a piping hot slice of emotional trauma to unpack, and it sounds like he won't be alone for it. I think that means he's running into something worse.]

So Elodie, you have gotten away to somewhere safe, and Timmy, you have gotten away to somewhere dangerous. These can be the same place, I think.

You have taken shelter together in G'eldriia's bedroom - a fastidiously neat place centred around a large desk covered in books, with inspirational posters of scientists saying meaningful quotes. A corkboard on the wall is covered with pinned notes and photographs mapping out the school's various social structures and marking weak or vulnerable targets for quiz team recruitment. And... oh dear, all the colours are fading from everything, Elodie, and you're starting to swell with the terrible power of finality even as Tim locks the door behind him in what should have been a moment of safety and possibly romance was suddenly turning into a moment of supernatural, terrible death.

"Beg pardon!" said the ghostly form of Masque, very dead after being pushed towards Lord Sleepshy, folding their arms as they hovered over Timothy. "Rude!!"


CREEP
WHIPPED
TRUANT

Annalee gives a shrug. "I'm more interested in not avoiding immediate suffering and finding Timothy. We're outside, it happened, we should definitely get back in before we're missed, but why you'd want to get back to the room with the angry werewolf is beyond me."

A beat, Annalee rubs her arms and stretches.

"And, while I'm here, I get rare access to a natural scrying pool. Enchanted moat and everything."

She wanders over to the surface of the moat. She doesn't have a dagger or anything really sharp on her, so she settles for biting her finger to get a few drops of blood and dipping it into the moat. She starts to chant, soft, dark speech, beseeching the powers that enchant this castle to answer her call. She asks them to find Timothy and to show her a path to him, offering her blood in exchange for their sight.

[2+3+1=6. Miss on Gazing into the Abyss. I would suggest something where the powers that be in the castle have other plans for a whipped and obedient witch.]

You see it all clearly. The terrifying mummified face of Lord Sleepshy, looming over Margot. Timothy shoving Masque directly towards the looming, desiccated figure of Lord Sleepshy, giving a split second for the werewolf to escape. And then you have to look away.

"Skipping out on school, I see?" you hear the sprightly voice of the angel in your head as you dry heave into the moat. "Well, at least it was an educational experience! Because this is what will happen to you if you do not gather for me the other illegal kiss criminals who have disturbed poor Lord Sleepshy's rest. Margot, Elodie, and G'eldriia - bring them to me or suffer their punishments as well as your own."


SAVAGE

The look in Samael's eyes darkened a shade at the mention of Timothy Oglevee Crompton of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons.

"The human," Samael spat with even more distaste than the romance notion, not to mention a fair bit of frustration. How long was Ana going to take with bringing him anyway? Damn he was still thirsty.

The vampire eyed Death Incarnate over once more as the opportunity in the air revealed itself to him. His skin began to buzz with thirst and ambition.

"What would a personal guarantee that it won't be him be worth to you, Reaper?"

IT IS WORTH, said Death with a mirthless grin. MORE THAN ANY OTHER CREATURE HAS TO OFFER ME. FAMILY IS IMPORTANT, SAMAEL.

And with a crack of teal light and the tolling of a distant bell he was gone.

[Raz_Fox]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET

Elodie is actually a smart cookie. Elodie is not standing out in the middle of the room where anyone, especially a returning angry spider, might see her. Elodie is, in fact, peeking out of the wardrobe full of garish fuzzy sweaters, rather astonished to see Timmy slowly becoming visible.

When did he drink an invisibility potion, anyway?? And on their kinda-sorta date! Was he trying to escape, or— no, no, he must have been evading Dria. Yes. That’s it.

Still, she keeps hiding, mostly so that Masque doesn’t nag her about sending him off to the other side, and eavesdrops like a pro.

[Anarion]

CREEP
WHIPPED
TRUANT

"G'eldriia is like 50 feet away!" Annalee shouts out of exasperation before realizing what an incredibly stupid idea that is. She just needs to be good and obey and she can avoid more excruciating pain. Plus, now she knows where to find Timothy for master Samael.

"And by that I mean, I would be happy to fetch whoever you'd like, Angel. Shall I bring them to the tower? I'm sure I could easily handle that."

Annalee rushes to catch up with G'eldriia, intent on her very important task that will lead to her not suffering undue harm.

[TheAmishPirate]

SECOND PLACE
WEREWOLF MAGNET

Elodie is actually a smart cookie. Elodie is not standing out in the middle of the room where anyone, especially a returning angry spider, might see her. Elodie is, in fact, peeking out of the wardrobe full of garish fuzzy sweaters, rather astonished to see Timmy slowly becoming visible.

When did he drink an invisibility potion, anyway?? And on their kinda-sorta date! Was he trying to escape, or— no, no, he must have been evading Dria. Yes. That’s it.

Still, she keeps hiding, mostly so that Masque doesn’t nag her about sending him off to the other side, and eavesdrops like a pro.


So Elodie, you have gotten away to somewhere safe, and Timmy, you have gotten away to somewhere dangerous. These can be the same place, I think.

You have taken shelter together in G'eldriia's bedroom - a fastidiously neat place centred around a large desk covered in books, with inspirational posters of scientists saying meaningful quotes. A corkboard on the wall is covered with pinned notes and photographs mapping out the school's various social structures and marking weak or vulnerable targets for quiz team recruitment. And... oh dear, all the colours are fading from everything, Elodie, and you're starting to swell with the terrible power of finality even as Tim locks the door behind him in what should have been a moment of safety and possibly romance was suddenly turning into a moment of supernatural, terrible death.

"Beg pardon!" said the ghostly form of Masque, very dead after being pushed towards Lord Sleepshy, folding their arms as they hovered over Timothy. "Rude!!"

Terribly sorry, but the Timothy you're trying to reach is no longer quite so in tune with ghostly matters, and is thus unable to take your call at this time.

And if Timothy were physically capable of taking your call at this time, he is much too busy sinking onto the bed, hugging himself like he's the only solid object on earth, and shuddering for breath to answer.

In. And out. Deep breath in. Deep breath out. It doesn't help. It doesn't calm him in the slightest. It fans the flames of a burning question until his head's swimming and darkness laps at his vision and the only thing he can hear is his own voice, rasping and pleading.

"Why?"

"Why did I look?"

"Why did I look?"

He was Timothy Oglevee Crompton. Of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons. He'd never set a single toe out of line all his life. He was a good student. He was a good lad. Always, forever, ever since before he'd come to this wicked place, he'd been good. And now? And now?!

"Why did I look?"

He didn't know. He had to know. He lay on the bed and tore at his heart and demanded to know.

"Why did I look?"

He was Timothy Oglevee Crompton. Of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons.

...right?

[Rolling to Gaze Into the Abyss: 3 + 4 - 1 = 6]

[Elanorin]

IT IS WORTH, said Death with a mirthless grin. MORE THAN ANY OTHER CREATURE HAS TO OFFER ME. FAMILY IS IMPORTANT, SAMAEL.

And with a crack of teal light and the tolling of a distant bell he was gone.

SAVAGE

So they keep telling me.

Samael brushed the thought a side with a sniff and then sat back in his overstuffed chair. He steepled his hands together and thought on the exchange that had just happened, it was not every day you had a private conversation with Death. It had worked out rather well, he thought. Of course he would have preferred something specific to have been agreed as payment for this bother with Elodie's love life but a blank I Owe You from Death Incarnate was certainly no small prize. And with dear little Ana delivering the offending article this very moment. Things were working out just... fine.

With a chuckle to himself, Sam quickly got up and hurried back to his room with a skip in his step. Ana should be arriving with the Human any minute and those inane essays along with him, they'd make for entertaining reading over a warm drink.

Wouldn't want to miss any of that.

[Thanqol]

SAVAGE

So they keep telling me.

Samael brushed the thought a side with a sniff and then sat back in his overstuffed chair. He steepled his hands together and thought on the exchange that had just happened, it was not every day you had a private conversation with Death. It had worked out rather well, he thought. Of course he would have preferred something specific to have been agreed as payment for this bother with Elodie's love life but a blank I Owe You from Death Incarnate was certainly no small prize. And with dear little Ana delivering the offending article this very moment. Things were working out just... fine.

With a chuckle to himself, Sam quickly got up and hurried back to his room with a skip in his step. Ana should be arriving with the Human any minute and those inane essays along with him, they'd make for entertaining reading over a warm drink.

Wouldn't want to miss any of that.

Ah, but they have not arrived, Samael. Nobody has arrived at all. You have been completely disrespected and ignored. You could sit here and wait longer but every second that you do will compound the insult and disrespect that you are receiving. But - well, perhaps you are a patient creature? Perhaps you have the self restraint, the nobility, to wait quietly while everyone else finishes up whatever no doubt very important errands they are doing and make their way around to you in the fullness of time?



He didn't know. He had to know. He lay on the bed and tore at his heart and demanded to know.

"Why did I look?"

He was Timothy Oglevee Crompton. Of the Wilkenstonshire Cromptons.

...right?

[Rolling to Gaze Into the Abyss: 3 + 4 - 1 = 6]

Tell me what really happened on June the 27th. Tell me the reason you lost your part-time job at the corner store. And tell me out loud, so Elodie and Masque can hear.


CREEP
WHIPPED
TRUANT

"G'eldriia is like 50 feet away!" Annalee shouts out of exasperation before realizing what an incredibly stupid idea that is. She just needs to be good and obey and she can avoid more excruciating pain. Plus, now she knows where to find Timothy for master Samael.

"And by that I mean, I would be happy to fetch whoever you'd like, Angel. Shall I bring them to the tower? I'm sure I could easily handle that."

Annalee rushes to catch up with G'eldriia, intent on her very important task that will lead to her not suffering undue harm.

G'eldriia has assembled a makeshift splint for her arm out of some driftwood and webbing. She's sitting on a large rock staring at the castle walls, deep in contemplation, muttering to herself about secret passages, barely noticing your presence.

[Anarion]

CREEP
WHIPPED
TRUANT

Annalee is officially annoyed at this point. So many people to fetch, when she knows where Timmy is now from watching them flee. That obviously takes priority. "Angel saw us both out here, report to his tower if you don't want a worse punishment" she just calls to G'eldriia as she walks past her. "No need to worry about hiding either, I'm just going around to the front door."

[TheAmishPirate]

Tell me what really happened on June the 27th. Tell me the reason you lost your part-time job at the corner store. And tell me out loud, so Elodie and Masque can hear.

But no matter how he demanded, no matter how desperately he beat as his soul, he was left with that cruelest answer of all:

Silence.

And that, he could not endure.

So Timothy laughed. A dry, mirthless chuckle. “Suppose you can’t blame Jess for this one, can you lad?”

“...well, actually, it’s not blaming if it’s her fault, is it? She wouldn’t let me alone, and that’s that. Her and all her...her...hooliganism! Loitering behind the school, never quieting down for assembly, roughhousing in P.E., nevermind the blithe disrespect for uniform and tradition. I just...ugh! How could anyone stand her? I could barely tolerate speaking to her for more than a few minutes. If the honor code hadn’t had such a rule against loitering, I wouldn’t have sought her out in the first place.”

“So, a-anyway…” He sniffed loudly. “The point is it wasn’t fair. She didn’t have to be such a reprobate, I had to be there. It was my job. The honorable and trusted chief of the register. She didn’t have to bother me every day. For weeks on end.” The worst part of his day, without contest. “She wouldn’t let me alone, and I had to defend my sanity. If she hadn’t come by so often...if she hadn’t been such a...such a....villain…”

“I-I would’ve stayed at my post.” Surely he would’ve.

“The register wouldn’t have been unguarded.” Surely it wouldn’t have.

“And...and…” He choked. And what, Timothy Oglevee Crompton, my boy? And what?

“And I wouldn’t have told my parents I’d just nodded off on the job.”

Timothy did not want to speak any longer. Perhaps he couldn’t, at that. So once again, in the seeming solitude of another’s bedroom, silence reigned.

And that, he had to endure.

[Elanorin]

Ah, but they have not arrived, Samael. Nobody has arrived at all. You have been completely disrespected and ignored. You could sit here and wait longer but every second that you do will compound the insult and disrespect that you are receiving. But - well, perhaps you are a patient creature? Perhaps you have the self restraint, the nobility, to wait quietly while everyone else finishes up whatever no doubt very important errands they are doing and make their way around to you in the fullness of time?


It is true, he expected to see at least a small line of sleep-deprived students forming at his door when he got there and it's with a measure of annoyance that he opens his door after realising there's absolutely no one here.

It is also true, however, that he is in an unusually good mood and even the blatant lack of fear respect shown by these tardy students didn't really put more than a small dent in it. The upside of this was that he could pick his favourite chair to sit in and position himself in a suitably intimidating pose to glower at the door and catch them immediately on the offensive when they did come.

The longer they took... well... the more time he had coming up with ways of ensuring Timmy posed no threat to Miss Faucher's romantic future. Win-win.