Big Trouble in the Big House

[divus]

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[divus]

[The vines cut away fairly easily since they're just vines, but as they're cut, a red, alcoholic-smelling liquid spills from the splits in the foliage. The vines are moving faster but they're somewhat manageable. Connor might even be able to rip a vine away, but there's a new problem and it's that the leopard head mounted on the wall is eyeing them.

And roars very, very, loudly.

Hello.]

[tootsiepop]

—You had the utility knife?!

[Everyone in this group has amazing priorities.




Anyway. Connor will get down to business on his end, ripping away whatever vines he can manage. Unfortunately for them— that leopard head sure is looking at them! And it sure is, you know, growling. And doing things a dead murder cat shouldn't do.

Maybe they should, uh, get free and get gone.]

[selfimmolates]

None of that matters right now, both of you!?

[pri! ori! ties!

also yeah that leopard head sure is worrying. once he's free, he'll leave connor to zoe while he gets his gun back out, pointing it at the leopard head.]

Get out—now!

[he's waiting for you two!!]

[requiemed]

[As soon as she's fended off the vines near her, she's hurrying back to do the same for Connor, trying to move enough as she does that nothing else can take hold.

If that works, she's tugging on his arm and ushering him to the door.]

Come on!

[divus]

[The vines are wilting, withering away and wine spills in puddles over the floor. It'll cause them to slip and slide their way out of the room, and the leopard bares its teeth upon seeing Ray's gun. It snarls and growls loudly as the vines retreat to wrap through the masks, giving the appearance of more eyes watching them. The Pac-Man machine beep-boops its way through life, doing its best as the group escapes the room. The head can't go anywhere no matter how much it snarls at Ray, but the three of them can trip their way back out to the hall.

The door will slam behind them and the cat roars angrily before the low rumbling purr returns.

That's one room down. What's next? There's a door down the hall, and there's a staircase.]

[tootsiepop]

[Slip and sliding their way to safety, ig. Connor somehow, miraculously, keeps his balance even as they skedaddle over the wine puddles. No tumbling to the ground — unless Zoe loses her balance and pulls him down, that is.

Once they're all safely outside and the door has slammed shut behind them, Connor is just. Going to squint at the wine stains on his pants and shoes. Squint at his jacket. Start fussing with his tie, like that's going to solve anything.]

Well, that yielded nothing. [EXCEPT STRESS. He sounds so very annoyed.] Are you both unharmed?

[selfimmolates]

[ray doesn't care about the mess, instead holding his hand out to zoe. knife back, please.]

Yeah.

... I think maybe we were supposed to appease that stupid thing.

[like FEED IT APPARENTLY

watch them revise their strategy only for the next room to require violence.]

[requiemed]

[She's looking with mild dismay down at her converse, but when Ray speaks up, she glances his way.]

I'm fine, but... Can I keep it until we leave? You have a gun. [But, hm.] Appease it with what? Leopards aren't exactly known for eating grapes.

[stares directly at ty]

You think we should head into that room next? Maybe it'll have less death vines.

[divus]

[Someone save the distressed roomba. As it is, the house goes quiet, and somewhere above them they'll hear a lock very faintly click open.

The door to the next room, near the stairs, also clicks open. They can either investigate or they can head straight upstairs. That's up to them, but at least there aren't leopards in other parts of the house.]

[tootsiepop]

[He's fine. It's fine.]

I don't see how we were meant to appease a disembodied head. [STARES AT TY MORE INTENSELY

But

anyway—]

... Is someone else in the house with us? [Well. It's probably magical bullshit.] We should finish investigating downstairs before we head to another floor.

[selfimmolates]

I mean, it's also just as likely that Cunning is screwing with us.

[but sure, let's go.]

[requiemed]

...Yeah, I guess that checks out.

[smh @ cunning

but yes, through the other door they go, probably.]

[divus]

[As they venture through the other door, they'll find themselves wandering down a flight of stairs. For a house this big, it also seems to have a basement.

Careful, it's dark. Also there's lots of boxes? Like if you walk down the stairs you're immediately going to crash knee-first into a stack of boxes. That's probably nothing though, right?]

[tootsiepop]

[Well.

This sure is a spoopy basement. Connor pauses at the doorway, checking first to make sure there aren't any obvious light switches available. After finding none, he sighs.]

I wouldn't suppose Ray is carrying a flashlight with him as well?

[... And whatever the answer is, he's going to insist on going first. It's fine if he gets stabbed by a basement monster? Anyway— On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad is their encounter with the boxes going to be, y'all.]

[selfimmolates]

[i can't answer that question because ray possibly would've thought to but i, oocly, did not so unless ty gives me retroactive permission to say he made one or something,

but ray is going to be careful as he goes down the stairs, i dunno about the rest of you!!]

[requiemed]

[Zoe’s also walking pretty carefully down these incredibly ominous basement stairs, so there will probably not be any accidental roomba stabbing.]

Do you guys see anything?

[divus]

[Nope, no lights for you guys, good luck. Luckily for them there's only a big box at the foot of the stairs, but there seem to be small glass jars scattered around the stairs themselves. They'll have to navigate those carefully to get to the bottom.

There's no leopard head or anything in the room, but they'll hear what sounds like gentle babbling of words that don't make sense. It's more nonsense than actual sentences, but it's coming from a back corner.

There are still mountains of boxes and jars though. Persist? Or head upstairs again and leave?]

[tootsiepop]

No... I can barely make out what's in front of me. [...] But I think I can hear something.

[Presumably, his LED will help a teensy bit with the lighting situation. Other than that, uh. He's squinting in the dark, mindful of his step. Is there any visible writing on the boxes, or anything else of note on them? Or is it too way too dark to notice any details even with the LED?]

[selfimmolates]

Yeah...

[ he puts his gun away (because apparently it pissed off the leopard??), though he's still alert as he heads towards the source of the babbling.]

Hello...?

[look, it's his attempt at the pacifist route. place your bets on how long this'll last.]

[requiemed]

[She’s heading with Ray towards the source of that voice, concerned, as she speaks up too.]

Are you okay?

[divus]

[The words seem to blend together, turning into echoes about the son of Poseidon that make zero sense in context. Even as Ray and Zoe search, they're not going to find anything. The words are louder the closer they get, but they aren't actually increasing in volume. Heading for a back corner where the sound is, they'll feel the air grow warmer as if something should be there.

Connor, meanwhile, will be able to see that the boxes are labeled "STRAWBERRY PRESERVES" and "AMBROSIA". If he shines his light on the jars, he'll see that they're definitely strawberry preserves.

Once Zoe and Ray are close enough, they'll also hear: "There's no way out."

So that's cheerful.]

[tootsiepop]

[i'm so glad that zoe and ray are living a horror story while meanwhile, connor, squinting at strawberry preserves.

If he starts carefully digging through the boxes, will there be anything in there beside strawberry preserves, like the ambrosia? Or nah? Assuming they can be opened in the first place, that is.]

Zoe, Ray. Sound off if you found anything.

[Because he sure did not hear that cheerful endnote.]

[selfimmolates]

[ignoring connor for now, sorry connor. instead, in a surprisingly comforting voice (considering how much of a dick he usually is)—]

It's all right. We'll find one.

[hopefully that wasn't, like. a threatening kind of "there's no way out" or else what he just said was completely pointless.]

[requiemed]

There's a voice...

[That's said for Connor's benefit before she gets back to this possibly ominous ghost voice.]

Are you stuck here? Maybe we can help you.

[divus]

[The disembodied voice's only response is an almost incoherent sob that it's "so dark, too dark." It seems like it's no longer even speaking full sentences, wavering in and out. It doesn't sound threatening at least? It just sounds sad and kind of horrified.

Regardless, even as Zoe and Ray get closer they'll only find a wall, though stepping through that space will also instill a brief sense of terror through them. The room will feel too dark suddenly, and the door upstairs will begin to close.

Connor, on the other hand, will definitely find jars of preserves but also boxes of what look like little golden-brown squares? They look soft to eat. Those may be worth investigating.]