Spooktober 2020: How is babby feared

[Shadowcaller]

[Spooks]

Uhhhhgg...

Jaahlyn forces a smile, since as the hound said no one was allowed to get mad at a simple scare. Those were the rules.

But that's especially difficult when she's forced to grab onto the creatures paws to get herself off the ground. But she's still forced to hold onto it like a unbalanced skater to the ice ring wall.
"Hello Ja-" That's when she gets a proper look of the creature she's now hanging to and instead of a word what comes out of her mouth is a "bleat."

Wolf
Danger
Run

She covers her mouth and takes a deep, calming, breath, the feeling in her legs now slowly returning.
"...apologies Jan, I'm Jaahlyn." Well, it wasn't her real real name, just her human name which were different things.

"How nice to, uh, be scared by you." She looks away from the hound a moment to the manor itself. Lot's of fairies, huh? So that's why she had been drawn here. "I must say, you're quite terrifying. Any reason you came to this party in particular with so many of us around?"

[bc56]

Thanks, I'm glad you like it! What next, spooky wind? Maybe some mist?

To be fair, Lambslaural, your weird life has probably rubbed off on Jade. But Jade's life is so weird she doesn't really notice any difference. Jade smiles reassuringly at Lambslaural. "I'm fine, it's still me, Jade." She made sure to mention the name. "Chestnut's just hanging out with me for a bit."

Until sunrise, right? We'd better have some fun while it lasts.

[Rebonack]

[Spooks]

Those are the rules! What would the world be without rules?

A mess, that's what.

"Hi Jaahlyn! You're way goatier than the other fauns I've met," Jan replies. It isn't an insult. He sounds more curious than anything else. "Have you got a goat for your animal? Most of the fauns at the weald live in bears and deer and squirrels and stuff. OH! And I met one once who lives in a porcupine! She was nice."

If a little prickly.

With a little twirl Jan whirls out of his costume, allowing the pumpkin and sheet to settle on the ground. He looks like a large black hound with a gruesome stump of a neck. His skull of eldritch flame crackles and roils where a dog's head ought to be. He floats a few inches off the ground, wisps of black mist wafting from his body. Despite his terrifying appearance he seems nice.

"Thanks! I've got lots of practice. I've been a yeth hound for almost a WHOLE YEAR now and it's pretty much the best," he says. "You get to scare people all the time and do whatever you want! I mean, what are they going to do? Kill me again?"

Oh hey that's pretty grim.

"This is my first Spooktober as a boogie so I'm pretty excited. I didn't know there were going to be so many faeries here I just wanted to come to the big party."

Yeah... for the awful headless ghost of a dead child Jan seems pretty positive. Also spooky.


[Jade and Lambslaural]

Good ideas, but I'm thinking... get some glow bugs to scoot together out in the woods, right? So they look like eyes in the dark. Then get some screech owls in on it for sound effects.

Lambslaural, meanwhile, shifts uncomfortably. "Oh... um... I guess that's okay? So long as you're alright with it?"

She saw WAY too many people get faeried up over the past several days. She would hate it if something like that happened to Jade on account of hanging around her.

Yup! Until sunrise. Then I've got to get to work preparing for Thanksmas. Busy busy busy!

[bc56]

Jade and Lambslaural and Chestnut

"Yeah, it feels great! Just for one night, what's the harm?" Jade beckons and the mist comes, blanketing the ground in a thin layer and getting thicker the further from the main party area you go. Trees jut like skeletal hands through the fog, their branches rattling in the wind. Anyone who happens to be a forest at the moment will find it a lot easier to be spooky about it. "Come on, let's go scare someone!"

Got any good tricks I could use to sneak up on someone?

[Shadowcaller]

[Spooks]

Jaahlyn slowly seems to be regaining the control over her legs and her hooves start to unsteadily settle down on the ground. She's still leaning firmly on Jan though as she doesn't seem to trust her own legs just yet.

"Oh, I'm a satyr actually." She mentions while still trying to gather her bearings. "As unlikely that sounds. We're tied to goats... and rats. Nothing else." At this point her tail can be seen peeking out underneath her chiton.
His next statements makes her eyebrow raise and for a moment she seems to forget the awkwardness of her current situation. "You... were human? Or something else?" She inquires softly as if suddenly afraid to hurt him.

[Rebonack]

[Jade and Lambslaural and Chestnut]

"Umm... okay," Lambslaural says as she trots off after Jade. "I don't think I'm very good at being scary."

Oh come on Lambslaural.

That's a quitter's attitude!

Mist swirls around the various pumpkin seeds that have been discarded during carving for a moment and then they're gone. Over on the snack table a large bowl of roasted, salted pumpkin seeds sits waiting to be enjoyed.

Oh yeah some great ones! You can make the mist REALLY thick. Or use glamour to make the spot you're at look empty. Or a charm so they don't pay attention to you until you spook 'em!

Chestnut sure is helpful. She seems WAY nicer that Buttercup. Facilitating parties > giggly zombie apocalypses.

[Spooks!]

"No way you're a satyr you've got goat legs AND you're a girl," Jan objects.

That's TWO strikes against being a satyr. The fact that she isn't some level of inebriated is also probably a strike against Jaahlyn's claim as well. That's three strikes which means her story is OUT! Jan has met probably eight satyrs he's practically an expert by now.

"Oh yeah I was human!" Jan confirms. "Can you move your legs yet floating for two people is hard. Yeah I think all yeth hounds were human before? The only other one I met was, too. Her name's Doreen! She's great she taught me a ton of cool tricks for scaring people."

Just TONS of cool tricks!

Like giggling when someone is walking alone in the dark and they can't see you!

Or popping out of a wall and startling them!

Or hiding in their rear view mirror when they get into their car!

And then the fog begins growing thicker, the trees taking on a forboding, skeletal appearance in the gloom.

This makes Jan even more excited. "Oh cool Queen Chestnut is turning up the spook level! Hey you wanna help me scare some more people?"

[bc56]

Jade and Lambslaural and Chestnut and Others

"It'll be fun!" Jade suddenly becomes very hard to look at. The eyes just slide right off her without realizing she's there. The perfect way to hide. "Look, those two over there have been alone the whole party. Why don't we pay them a visit?" She points to the two Dragonborn, the warlock and the devil, and begins to creep towards them.

[Arkhosia]

Sisters United Plus One

Night elves aren't the only ones accompanying Anika to Spooktober tonight. Blanche is tagging along for the adventure too, clad in tight black pants and a matching jacket with a large white cravat spilling out of the collar. A pair of half-gloves and the frilly white cuffs of the shirt underneath complete the outfit, although she doesn't commit to cutting or dyeing her hair for the costume.

"Much cozier than last year I went," the catgirl remarks. Things didn't go quite as well as she would've liked back at the Magcave, and she wasn't that big a fan of the place even without the whole baggage over Magtok dating her mom. Place was a bit too spacious for her liking, and she never liked the way the air feels in caverns. A nice open house like this was much less claustrophobic, regardless of the actual degree of enclosure on the inside.

[Gullara]

[Sisters United]

Anika have arrived to the Frescot house in quite a getup.
While she obviously didn't take the weapon in the link with her, also replacing the pauldrons with a grey fur scarf and not bothering dying her hair (or skin for that matter, ew) she is otherwise dressed like in the picture.

What might be more surprising is that she arrives alongside her sister who hasn't gotten nearly as inventive with her costume as she's just wearing a black robe and a witch-hat.

"Pretty cool, huh?" Anika asks the third person in their group, Natharia, as she gestures at the Frescots house.

Shanti raises an eyebrow as it now seemed pretty clear that her sister was actually trying to get friendly with her daughter. The offer to help out with Natharia's costume had seemed like a gesture more aimed at herself but the way Anika was acting her intentions were obvious. It wasn't like her sister had ever mastered the art of subtlety.

[Sisters United]

Natharia walks alongside her mom in a costume inspired by a movie she came across while bored at Vigil. It had a cool action lady who wore sunglasses, so she was inspired. She wears an ankle length, sleek jacket that opens in the front around her legs. Beneath it are matching pants and boots. Her hands are gloved in the same material as the jacket. It's a very shiny, almost plasticy looking material, all black. In her attempts to help, Anika was sent away more than once when the outfit was not shiny enough. It had to look like the movie. Otherwise her eyes are covered by small shades that hug close to her face. Both practical and clearly very cool. To complete the look, her snakes are pulled back to mimic slicked back hair.

The girl looks around a bit uncertainly at the fairly active party. She didn't tend to hang around crowds, and this was a bit overwhelming. Even so, all the costumes and decorations are so good. She nods in agreement with her auntie. "There's a party like this every year?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Spooks]

"Think I can stand now, yes." Jaahlyn nods and wiggles her feet in the air as if to prove this.
Once Jan puts her down her hooves seem to have enough strength in them to keep her stable. She makes a stiff bow, seemingly unsure how much she likes to test her limits at the moment. "Thank you."

She looks him in the eyes but start regretting that decision as she once again remembers she was talking to someone that looks very much like a Wolf.

Danger
Ru-

No, not again. She couldn't let her animal instincts keep taking over.
"...oh, I'm glad you got a second chance of life then, Jan." The satyr replies with what she hopes is a reassuring smile. "I too was human once, which is why I'm not your average satyr." Her smile turns into a grin. "I'm always up for some fun. That's part of why I came here actually. Can you believe I have to work all the time? It's the worst. We should scare someone."

[Sisters United]

"Yep! But at a different place each year. This time the Frescot people have it." Anika peers at the building. "And it looks like they've done a pretty swell job with it too."

She then turns to Blanche. "Heeeeyyy! What's up, Blanch!" She raises her hand to give the catgirl a give-me-five only to realize that there is no way Blanche could reach that high unless she jumped so she settles for a down-low instead. "You look awesome in that."

Shanti puts her hand on her daughters shoulder. "Looks like there's some people of your age over there." She remarks as she looks around.

[Zefir]

[Witch and Deer]

As Mia arrives someone she hasn't seen before is walking past her. She looks sort of like a centaur, if a centaur were more slight and had a deer rather than a horse for a lower body. She's wearing a red and black suit that while pretty suave looking doesn't suggest much about who or what she's supposed to be. Maybe some sort of devil considering the little spade tail she's wearing? She's carrying a little pastry box and heading toward another deer person talking to Adir who looks absolutely identical to her.

Well.

Not identical.

The way they hold themselves is quite different. The one with the box has a sort of cool confidence while the one chatting with the party host has a sort of infectious, vivacious audacity.

Dandelion (as evidenced by the yellow flowers in her hair) pauses briefly as Mia steps into the yard.

"Hey. Cool costume, dude. Witches are classic," she says.

[Witch and Deer]

Mia shrieks a bit back as she is addressed to by the ?deertaur?. You know because centaur just with deer? Not funny? Damn. Either way, since Mia isn't that tall at all she got suprised when the big deer woman speaks up. She even grabs her costum, like she fears the other person is going to rip it off. Which just causes Mia to show more leg skin. It will need a moment or two befor Mia can catch herself and reply.

"Yeah, ehh kinda." she says while trying to think somethign up. "I would just like to have a version that's less 'sexy witch' if you know what i mean." Mia is kinda the shy type. She would never wear some costums you might see here. "But, eh what's your costum about? I don't think I knew it and I'm not sure what is part of it and what not." She migth also note that Mia is keping a distance, maybe related to a fear?

[Rebonack]

[Spooks!]

Eyes?

What eyes.

Jan doesn't have a head.

Though you might stare at where eyes ought to be.

"You have to work all the time like kobolds?" Jan asks as he drapes the bed sheet back over his body and puts the pumpkin on over his stump. There! Disguised again. "That does sound bad. If your role is so boring why don't you go to the Dreamheart and get a new mask?"

Clearly the way this particular fae works is pretty different from Jaahlyn. Though of course Jan doesn't know that. He's only been a faerie for about a year. He hardly knows how his own sort of fae work, let alone how fae from other cosmologies function.

"Anyway yeah! There are a bunch of kids over there! Scaring other kids is the best. You distract them and I'll mingle for a bit and then spook them!"

Jan has this all worked out in his non-existent head.


[Sisters United]

Hey who is that really cool hero running over? A little half drow girl in a mostly blue denim outfit with one shoulder pauldron. Her hair has been spiked up and dyed yellow and she's hauling around a toy sword that's taller than she is. She drops her sword briefly so she can use both hands to hug Anika's leg.

"ANIKA! You came to the party! Your costume is so cool I love it!" Lapis says upon releasing Anika's leg and looking waaaaaay up. A six year old half drow is pretty small compared to a night elf. Then her attention turns to everyone else. There's another girl who's definitely older than her. And another lady who looks kind of like Anika but obviously not as cool. And then there's- "OH! You must be Blanche! I love your ears they're so pretty! I'm Lapis Lazuli I keep the grounds looking nice at VIGIL you're in VIGIL too, right I haven't seen you before."

This is the first time she's met Anika's friend Blanche!

They always seem to miss each other.


[Witch and Deer]

Dandelion raises an eyebrow when Mia shrieks. She's even more puzzled with how the gal is kind of clutching at her own costume. Kind of reminds her of how Lambslaural gets when she's feeling really down.

"Geeze, dude, chill. I'm not going to bite you," Dandelion says. It somehow comes off as an emboldening encouragement. Chin up. Chest out. "So... what, you couldn't find a costume with a higher neck and a longer dress?"

She... might be able to do something about that. Or she could definitely bug Lambslaural and she could do something about that.

"Oh, mine?" Dandelion says, looking down at her own outfit. "It's this devil from a video game my sister likes that's three identical twins. Just like us. Snap's really into theme costumes."


[Jade Lambslaural the Spirit of Spooktober and some dragons who are about to get spooked]

Lambslaural really isn't good at scaring people.

But...

Maybe she can be a distraction?

A bit timidly, the gaiad trots over to the pair of dragonborn, tapping her index fingers together anxiously.

"Um..."

It takes a few seconds to work up the courage to address the strangers. She's really bad at this.

"H-hello. I wanted to tell you that your costumes are really nice."

There. Perfect. She is doing her part in this dastardly deed.


[Pokemon, Gnome, and Goblin]

The cornhole boards had caught Khannie's attention.

This was clearly a game, but one that she hadn't ever seen before.

A long, flat, wooden board with a hole in it. A pile of little bags full of corn kernels laying nearby. Thankfully there are also some instructions! They're painted right onto the board in spooky looking letters.

"A Spooktober classic awaits for you, so grab your bags and toss them true. Score once for wood, score thrice for hole, twenty one points is your spooky goal," Khannie reads aloud, then bends down and picks up three corn sacks. "I guess we just stand back and throw them at the board? Who wants to try first? We'll have to make sure we stand in the same spot or it won't be fair."

She plops an extra corn sack a good ten feet away from the board.

"Does this look good? Or too far?"

[Recaiden]

Jack & Omiko

Doesn't really matter- if she thwacks the finger hard enough, it dissipates and reforms. It doesn't exist enough to have proper nerves, so she doesn't feel pain in it.

"It was a faerie party. I was sat next to someone, I didn't have these wings yet. He was a faerie, and I didn't know all the rules yet. I took a glass of champagne from him. It was nice stuff, too. Maybe not worth a finger, though." He took a load of blood as well, but Jack was able to heal that up and it didn't stick in her mind as much as having her finger bitten off by a snappily dressed man in red.

Jack does see all that, but she doesn't understand it. She sees the flow of energy through Omiko, and how it coalesces and dissipates, so the storage of magic in her eye and skin is obvious. The nature of that power, however, is less clear. It's defined by the colour, which is not one Jack's normal eyes can even see and so has no name. And Jack sees the time effect, but can't interpret it as such.

That's not so bad then.
At least Jack knows there's something going on.
"Gotta be in really bad straights before a finger for a drink is a good idea. There are a couple times I'dve taken that trade, though..." Not a very exciting story after all, but at least it makes you think.

[Weird Kids]

"No you couldn't!" Eao grows just a few inches taller and four wings begin to emerge from her back. "I'll show you!" She's not drunk, just aggressive. She's always like this, really.

"I could though. Look-" Shan also begins posturing, spreading a pair of big feathery wings, peeling the flesh back from their sharp crystal fingerbones, teeth dripping with the emerald fires of hell-

And another kid in a Wenomir costume comes over and bops them with her plastic sword.
"Shan, what are you doing? I'm not gonna make you a new set of bones if you lose these, you know!" Ankhenesmeryre looks particularly annoyed with her little distant cousin.
"Ugh, okay." Shan reluctantly returns to a normal guise.

[Shadowcaller]

[Spooks!]

Well, where the eyes would be, yes.

"I'm pact bound, there is nothing I can do about it until I've paid my 'debt'." Jaahlyn shrugs. "I can't even cross to that other side unless I need to do so for a job. It's awful."

She shakes her head and quickly turns her attention to the children Jan is pointing out, not wanting to dwell at thoughts of the past.

"Distract them, huh?" She stokes her chin as she considers something.
She wasn't sure if an 'adult' approaching them would be the appropriate distraction however. Tonight she had wanted to feel like her old self for a moment, but it was a foolish notion. She could never truly separate herself from what she now was, so why bother? Let's try to just embrace the madness of her eternal wonderland.

"I think I know how." She slowly sits down and then goes down on all fours.
Then she changes.
It goes in an instant, too fast for the human eye to really see.
One moment she's mostly humanoid, the next moment she's a black goat with streaks of white. Her horns are still filed down and her eyes colors inverted, but otherwise she's an oddly normal goat.

A normal goat that goes trotting off in the direction of the kids!

[Earl of Purple]

Jack & Omiko

"Just don't accept anything a fae gives you. Puts you in their debt. My debt was a finger, but it could have been worse." Could have been Jack's tongue, or flesh from somewhere else on her body.

"When would you have swapped a finger for a drink?" That's quite an interesting thing to say, and it's piqued Jack's curiosity.

[Murkus]

Adir + Snap (with a guest appearance by babs)

Lucy is probably making her presence known by bouncing around on Snap's back and generally making a nuisance of herself. She wants those rides! Sure her dad can turn into a big deer and give similar ones, but he's so big she usually has to share.

Adir seems surprised. "...A marine biology degree. Huh. I just... it sounds way too science-y for someone who clearly has so much magic following her around, you know? I wish there was uni where I came from too. Might have turned out better." He smiles jovially. "And hey, somebody once told me that if you can think of it, it probably exists. Might have to do a bit of looking first though..."

"I'd love to bring them for a visit. I hear a lot of parents have trouble getting their kids outside these days, but not this bunch," he adjusts Laurie in the crook of his arm. "If you need some help chasing the bad stuff out, that's sort of a specialty of mine..."

The stagfather turns his grin on his little daughter when Snap starts to address her. He loves to hear her talk. Laurie's face blooms with her own smile. It really is like her father's... just much prettier, as I'm sure he'd agree. "She said you're cute, daddy," she nearly babbles up at him.

"I heard," he winks back at Snap. "She's very sweet, this lady."

Laurie turns back to Snap just in time to see the proffered gift. She just about jumps out of her dads arms to get it. She produces a little gasp when she gets her pudgy hands around it, making the 'mouth' hinge open right away. "Magic," the little girl repeats, and starts to make distinctly adorable 'draconic' sounds as the plant moves. She looks like she could stare at it and make it go 'rawr' well into the next decade without getting bored.

[Morty]

[Doctors and Wrestlers]

"My name's Olvisin. Felandria..." The goblin's ears twitch up and down. "Right, the giantess in charge of HALO. I've heard about you. Fancy meeting you here."

[Pokemon, Gnome, and Goblin]

"This should be good," Brinika declares. "Throwing stuff is a sanctioned tradition of party games. Should we bet on who does best?"

[Earl of Purple]

Cheannika

"Throwing stuff is always fun. What'll we bet? Sweets? We need Khannie to get anything, so that won't really work." Unless Cheasadh can convince Pookie to give her a boost to get to the top of the table that way, anyway.

[5a Violista]

[Knight, Cowboy, and Magical Girls]

Veiled insults...?
Harley thinks back. Did anyone actually say any insults? If they had already progressed to actual insults, someone should have told her: she had a couple in mind just in case they got there, but she didn't say them because she didn't think anyone was actually going to go there. 'beautiful'? Is that considered an insult now? 'edge'? 'martial'...?

Is she just out of practice? Is that why she didn't notice that they got to insults?
Koshal's statement threw her off a little.

"Thanks," she says, readjusting the baby's position. "I hope your guy got better without any long-lasting effects. If there are, I'm pretty decent at healing magics so I could probably help get rid of them."

[Arkhosia]

Spoiler

Show

[Sisters United]

"Yep! But at a different place each year. This time the Frescot people have it." Anika peers at the building. "And it looks like they've done a pretty swell job with it too."

She then turns to Blanche. "Heeeeyyy! What's up, Blanch!" She raises her hand to give the catgirl a give-me-five only to realize that there is no way Blanche could reach that high unless she jumped so she settles for a down-low instead. "You look awesome in that."

Shanti puts her hand on her daughters shoulder. "Looks like there's some people of your age over there." She remarks as she looks around.

[Sisters United]

Hey who is that really cool hero running over? A little half drow girl in a mostly blue denim outfit with one shoulder pauldron. Her hair has been spiked up and dyed yellow and she's hauling around a toy sword that's taller than she is. She drops her sword briefly so she can use both hands to hug Anika's leg.

"ANIKA! You came to the party! Your costume is so cool I love it!" Lapis says upon releasing Anika's leg and looking waaaaaay up. A six year old half drow is pretty small compared to a night elf. Then her attention turns to everyone else. There's another girl who's definitely older than her. And another lady who looks kind of like Anika but obviously not as cool. And then there's- "OH! You must be Blanche! I love your ears they're so pretty! I'm Lapis Lazuli I keep the grounds looking nice at VIGIL you're in VIGIL too, right I haven't seen you before."

This is the first time she's met Anika's friend Blanche!

They always seem to miss each other.

Four Elves and a Catgirl

Anika underestimates Blanche's willingness to accommodate, because she absolutely will jump up to return the gesture with a grin. Presumably there's enough time for her to do so before the night elf readjusts, otherwise things might get awkward.

Heh, thanks! You uh, don't look so bad yourself either." There's a bit of warmth in her cheeks when she flirts back. She's not really sure who her girlfriend is dressed up as, but she can certainly still appreciate how Anika looks. "Damn, did you make all of that yourself?"

She turns to say something to Natharia, but then another child interrupts! Maybe it shouldn't surprise Blanche as much as it does - it was a party for all ages, and the Frescots were apparently on very friendly terms with the Mithars - but she's also never seen Lapis before. Nor is she prepared to how quickly she chatters on.

"Oh, hello - er, thanks- It's nice to meet you! I- she's told you about me?" The catgirl raises an eyebrow. Just what would Anika have mentioned about her anyways?

[Zefir]

[Witch and Deer]

Dandelion raises an eyebrow when Mia shrieks. She's even more puzzled with how the gal is kind of clutching at her own costume. Kind of reminds her of how Lambslaural gets when she's feeling really down.

"Geeze, dude, chill. I'm not going to bite you," Dandelion says. It somehow comes off as an emboldening encouragement. Chin up. Chest out. "So... what, you couldn't find a costume with a higher neck and a longer dress?"

She... might be able to do something about that. Or she could definitely bug Lambslaural and she could do something about that.

"Oh, mine?" Dandelion says, looking down at her own outfit. "It's this devil from a video game my sister likes that's three identical twins. Just like us. Snap's really into theme costumes."

[Witch and Deer]

"I can't know" Mia just replies to Dandelion's attemp to calm her down.
"Something like that, yes." she repleis "I don't like those dress who don't cover the feet when you walk. it feels like you are partly naked."

Even thought the player recognizes what game is meant, the character doesn't. It is the one with the guy in a white suit? Mia appears to be pusseld as she hears that cryptic answer. "Three identical twins? You mean triplets?"

[Rebonack]

[Strange Children]

"Nope! Not even a little fighting," Zee admonishes her unruly spawn. "No fighting is allowed at holiday parties."

She doesn't even bring up the alcohol theft. Though she might say something if Eao tries sharing it with some of the not eldritch abomination children.

"You have fun, okay? They've got some games around here I think. There are plenty of fun things you can do that aren't climbing the Tower."

At least Zee thinks so.

Oh to be an aspirant again!

The desire to get up into one of the ranked hosts was almost overwhelming.


[Adir and Snap and Several Babs]

Not ONLY does her dad have to share, but he isn't a magical faerie deer and given that Lucy is dressed as a fairy this year with pretty little sparkly fake wings it really sells the costume. Also Snap may have been employing some minor glamour to add sparkles and rainbows to their frolicking. No doubt the children who feel Spooktober should be spooky found this to be girly and lame. But they're wrong Spooktober is about having fun.

"I know, right? I don't look it at all. Magical faerie deer princess just out at the tide pools measuring crabs. The whole gaiad gig is something pretty new, though. There was this whole big thing Inside and me and my sisters caught up in the middle of it. I've always been the brains of the operation, so I'm pursuing the degree while my sis Lambsy does most of the park watching," Snapdragon replies. Then?

She does a quick little frolick around in a circle. Springing and bouncing and kicking up her hooves! Just enough to keep Lucy mollified a little while longer.

"Hey waddaya think back there kiddo?" she inquires of Lucy. "You want to come play at my magical faerie park some time?"

There's no comment made on the removal of nasty things. Snap doesn't want to scare the kids. But given her smile and nod it should be clear enough to Adir that she appreciates the offer.

Snapdragon just grins like an idiot as Laurie begins playing with the little red blossom. Snap absolutely LOVES children, they're the best. It's too bad getting some of her own probably isn't on the table. She'll just have to enjoy any who play on the outskirts of her park.

She'll give Adir a chance to reply and then-!

"Oooookay! I'm going to get back to some serious enchanted faerie rides before Lucy starts tugging on my ears. It was nice chatting with you, Lucy's Daddy! Your family is welcome at Plum Mountain Park any time! Just remember not to liiiiiiiitter!" Snap will say as she begins bounding across the yard with Lucy clinging to her.

Ostensibly Adir could keep chatting with her, but that would require keeping up with her as she frolics through the autumn mist.


[Pokemon, Gnome, and Goblin]

"We could bet with candy?" Khannie suggests, glancing back at the snack table again. "I could get a bunch and everyone takes a third of it. And then we... bet that?"

That sounds pretty lame.

And then?

A flash of inspiration!

"OH! I know! Whoever wins? They other two have to help them do chores at their house!"

Now THAT is a real motivator for victory.


[Witch and Deer]

"Pretty sure no violence is allowed at these parties, dude," Dandelion replies. "Pretty knowable."

She looks the dress up and down, considering. Maybe just covering it up with a glamour? Actually adding stuff to the dress, well... Lambsy could probably do that but it looks like she's off doing whatever with her new girlfriend. Just adding a glamour is probably something Snap could do, but she's off giving rides to the yahoos.

This just leaves Dandelion to figure it out.

She isn't as great at either of those other things. She's mostly just good at talking to people. Most of the time, anyway. Maybe the witch just needs some confidence.

"I think you look good. Probably don't need to worry about it too much," Dande reasons.

Then at the correction she blinks.

Followed by a little snort of a laugh.

"Heh. Yeah. Identical triplets."

Dandelion and her two sisters are dressed up like Cerberus, as it happens.


[Spooks!]

Jan watches for a few moments, then begins drifting off toward a group of children mingling not too far away. There's one who looks like a black dragon, sort of? He'll probably be pretty good for spooking. Clad in a white bed sheet with a pumpkin over his head as a disguise, the yeth hound approaches his prey...

He just needs Jaahlyn to distract the other children first with her clever goat ploy.

Kids like goats, right?

Jan hadn't ever really gotten a chance to play with goats before but he's pretty sure he would have had fun with them and/or get headbutted over.

[Shadowcaller]

[Spooks!]

Bastion and Jillian will see something a bit out of place for a costume party.

A goat.
No even a costumed one.
Just a ordinary goat which trots up to them and bleats.

It does have rather unusual eyes however. If either of them have seen a goat before, it seems like the color of its eyes have been inverted with a white pupil and black sclera. How odd!

[Morty]

[Pokemon, Gnome, and Goblin]

Brinika grins toothily.

"Helping with chores? A bold suggestion. But you'd get a free trip to Underside that way. What do you think, Cheasadh?"

[bc56]

Eao makes a face, but accepts the not-fighting and returns to human child shape. She sits down in a huff and pulls a large book out of thin air and begins reading, clearly very annoyed. Grownups have to ruin all her fun. She just wanted to have a nice little duel with this other kid.

[Earl of Purple]

Pokemon, Gnome, Goblin

"If she loses, Khannie'd get a free trip to Underside. If one of us lose, we get a trip to her Dad's house. And I stayed there for a bit, and couldn't reach the sink. I don't know what chores Khannie has to do, but it's a bigjob house. Lots of stuff we'd not be able to reach- even if I have grown since I lived there." And Cheasadh wasn't there for very long, and it was a long time ago. Any equipment to make the house gnome-friendly is likely to have been put away or disposed of long since.

Brinika's probably heard Cheasadh say 'bigjob' before, meaning humans and human-sized people. Khannie might not know it, and... Cheasadh really shouldn't use it so often. It's not entirely polite.

[Rebonack]

[Pokemon, Gnome, Goblin]

Khannie hasn't really heard the term 'bigjob' before so it doesn't occur to her that it might not be nice.

"I have lots of outside chores so I think it'll be okay," Khannie reasons.

She mostly does alright in Underside she just has to make extra sure not to hit her head on things.

"Okay so there's different colors of bags I'll take the purple ones and go first," she says, gathering up the four purple bags and getting in position.

One!

Totally misses, landing in the grass nearby.

Darn.

Two!

OH! That one landed on the board!

Three!

Whoops that one landed on the board but it slid off.

Four!

That one slid too, but it went in the hole!

"Yeah! That means I have four points. You go next, Brinika," Khannie says, indicating the remaining corn sack piles. Orange, brown, black, and green remain as options. All great Spooktober colors.

[Felandria]

[Doctors and Wrestlers]

"My name's Olvisin. Felandria..." The goblin's ears twitch up and down. "Right, the giantess in charge of HALO. I've heard about you. Fancy meeting you here."

I try and come to all the social gatherings, things with HALO and Eastside have been going smoothly, so I’ve had almost too much free time on my hands.

I can only imagine how hard that would be with extra arms.

She gestures towards Olvisin’s costume arms.

[Reinholdt]

[Knight, Cowboy, and Magical Girls]

Reinholdt is bewildered and caught off guard by Koshal's outburst. "I assure you that both my offer and my concern are genuine," Reinholdt says with a frown, after a moment to recollect himself. "As for suggesting I wouldn't enjoy teaching, I did not mean to imply that teaching was somehow beneath me. As a student of the martial arts, I imagine you would not wish to become a doctor or a sanitation worker, but you would still respect those that chose those professions. I have nothing but the highest of respect for teachers."

Rein turns towards Wenomir. "If I have caused unintended offense, you have my deepest apologies," Rein says bowing his head apologetically towards the swordsmaster and keeping it lowered.

[Gnrlshrimp]

[Jade Lamsblaural Spook and some not-dragons]

The one labelled as a warlock peeks down his spectacles at the gaiad, then chuckles and nudges his companion. "See, Kai? I told you this was a good choice. He sets his tome down beside him and smiles, "And you are?"