In Search of the Source of the Creeping Darkness Main Story

Interacting/Mentioning: @Flash Holmwood | @Søren Silverwood | @Dan Palmer

Open to Interaction

These were not normal rats.

They didn't flee immediately when Piper began kicking, not even when she held a blinding light to their eyeballs. A searing pain ripped through Piper's entire leg as a determined rat gripped onto her already-bruised-and-punctured ankle once again. She was so going to get rabies. Piper watched in grim satisfaction as her reflexes kicked in (no pun intended) and the rat flew through the air and smashed into the wall, unconscious. She wanted them to die, all of them. In the most gruesome ways possible.

The temporary satisfaction faded when Piper realized there were still three rats to face, still stubbornly set on eating her. Adrenaline coursed through Piper's veins - at least the room was empty and there was nothing else lurking and waiting to attack.

As far as she could see, anyway.

Piper was not usually one to be claustrophobic, but the chilling recognition that she was trapped in a dark room with something "home" that had set hungry rats on her, as well as a boy who clearly didn't want anything to do with her, made her feel very small. Why is it that whenever I try to solve a mystery I either almost die or am of zero use, or both? She was now presumably locked in a room. The only way to leave would be to call for help or work with whatever mechanism had closed the door. Piper didn't like either of those options enough to follow through with them. She refused to be humiliated five minutes into the search, and the primitive technology might be extra booby-trapped.

Piper had always been a loner. Different. Separate. But this complete separation from others, in complete darkness, in a dungeon, was different on a whole other level. Piper wasn't just isolated; she was alone in all manners of speaking. Nobody would be saving her. Kara's words of warning on Halloween felt even more ominous now...but at least Piper wasn't wearing a horrible and unpractical ballgown any longer.

How could she have been so stupid? Here she was, stuck in the darkest room ever. The drawings in the previous room and the labels above the doorways should have been warning enough. Breathe. One, two, three. Exhale. Piper continued to fend off the rats.

Until this point, Piper had been completely oblivious to whatever had been occurring outside her new rat-infested prison. Now, a thudding at the door caused her to divert her attention for a moment. Male voices - unrecognizable to her, but they seemed to be other Slytherins attempting to enter. They must have noticed the door slam shut.

Piper's first response was of elation. She had been an idiot to come here alone, even though she liked it better that way. Others may be incompetent, but what was she? An eleven year old girl, facing darknesses that were likely beyond her. It was time to stop the act and accept some help - there were bloodthirsty rats attacking her; that should be sign enough.

Thudding slowly pounded at the blocked door. Someone was trying to kick it down with force. Good luck to them, that block was heavy. Nonetheless, Piper called out to whoever was trying to enter. "I'm in here!" With disease-ridden, violent rats might have been a good inclusion, but the others should probably see it to believe it. Besides, Piper wanted to keep pushing on. Even if the boy had sacrificed her, she needed to see what lay ahead.

Back to the death. It was time to wipe these rats of their horrible existence. Piper imagined burning off all of their hair, blinding them, consuming them with a fiery inferno. "Incendio!" She put every ounce of willpower, fury, and desperation into her spell. These rats would burn. Pay for their miserable attacks.

ACTION: Cast Incendio at the rats (if no blanket target is allowed, target one rat), call out to students outside door.
LOCATION: Room 4
STATS: || Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 5 | Strength: 4 | Wisdom: 8 | ArcPower: 6 | Accuracy: 6 ||
ABILITY: Perfectionist
POST TRACKER: X | X | X | X

Dan seemed to be completely understood, which saved a lot of time, and the effort of him trying to speak slowly and dumb it down for those who didnt understand his accent.
For real, how hard was it to understand english?

Dan then heard someone from inside the door... Telling them that she was in there.

Well, obviously.

But when Alohamora was tried, nothing happened. The door still wouldn't open. Which meant it was blocked. While this was definitely annoying, it also made Dan wonder: If it was blocked from the other side, and the girl who needed help was also on the other side, why did she not remove the blockage from the other side? Even if she was being attacked by something, it would have been a simple matter to dislodge the blockage really quick.

Whatever the case, Flash and this other person, was it Soren? Dan wasn't sure, he was too irritated. Flash and Maybe Soren had the right idea. If it wont budge, break it down.

Dan took his stance, raised his foot, and channeled the frustration and irritation at the other people here, Selim, and the door, and prepared to kick the door down with the others, and also to vent all his negative emotion over the last 3 minutes.

Actions: Kicking down the door in sync with Flash and Soren.

Lovely Creature Allies: Flash Holmwood, Soren Silverwood

Thora had no love of the unknown, nor was she the type to throw herself headlong into something she wasn't quite sure she'd walk out from intact. Her personal encounters with the dangers that seemed to always arise, in some form or another, around Hogwarts had only heightened this tendency. After all, she'd unwittingly walked into enough traps - the Slytherin attack and the 2019 Masquerade, to name a couple - to have learned that anything remotely suspicious was best left alone. Rumors of strange activity in the dungeons - not far from where she and her housemates lived - and strange whispers originating from the same area, then, should not have held an ounce of her appeal. It certainly shouldn't have been anything she wished to investigate, even when a number of students beelined there, seeming almost eager to be delving into the dungeons.

But all the same, she found herself heading in that same direction - down the stairs into the castle's dank underground - trailing behind the rest. Through the pounding of her heart and the ever-present whisper that it wasn't at all safe, that a pack of students wandering into the dungeons alone and without adult supervision was a terrible idea, she walked. It took every ounce of her determination to keep going, but she wasn't about to let herself turn back. Sure, she was absolutely terrified, trembling from fear - well, and cold - but this wasn't just a matter of personal safety or stupidity.

She wasn't the only one down here, after all, a fact made obvious by the Slytherins she'd seen heading down here not long ago, apparently intent on poking around. Thora certainly didn't know all of them, but housemates stuck up for housemates. After witnessing the Slytherin attack the previous year up close and in person, she knew - partially, at least - bad things were bound to happen when they wandered about by themselves. And now, they weren't even contained to the common room like last time; no, they were heading even deeper, into territory of whose extent she certainly had no idea of.

Besides, she knew Bridget was here somewhere; she'd seen her descend into these same depths, and there was no way Thora was letting her best friend venture into such a dangerous unknown alone. Well, she wouldn't be alone, really, but anyway, Thora didn't like the idea of remaining in the relatively safe confines of the castle above while others - friend or foe, really - navigated a place she'd only ever heard negative rumors about. She'd never forget how Bridget had jumped in front of her upon the spiders' entry into their common room, only to be bitten in her place, nor how Thora had been left shaken yet otherwise completely unharmed.

Light was nonexistent now, any last vestiges of brightness fading into black, and she found herself rushing forward towards the dancing dots of light already summoned by multiple casts of Lumos, fearful of being left behind in the complete darkness. She'd never been afraid of the dark, exactly, but the thought of what could be crouching mere inches from her yet hidden away in the shadows so she wouldn't be made aware to its presence was enough to send her scurrying. Boots padding quietly on the stone underfoot, her feet carried her forward until she caught up with a group of students [room 1], a sigh of relief escaping her lips.

It was a good bit brighter now, lit wand-tips providing light to what seemed like a space walled in with stone on all sides. Granted, the students who'd cast Lumos were moving about quite a bit, and so it wasn't terribly easy for Thora to benefit from the light they'd generated, but at least there was proof that she hadn't found herself somehow alone in uncharted waters, in a place she'd never have ventured without others at her side.

Pausing briefly to catch her breath, she looked around, gaze darting from student to student. It was difficult to recognize people only by the dim light cast by a few wands, but at least they did appear to be her fellow schoolmates, not some- some dungeon-dwelling thing. She didn't see Bridget among them, though, which was worrisome - after all, flashbacks from the previous March still ran through her memory on repeat, and the last thing she'd ever want was the same thing to happen again. No longer would she be the helpless child, too hesitant to act; no, this time, she was ready.

Drawing her aspen wand out for even a small semblance of comfort, right hand gripping it so tightly her knuckles had quickly turned bone-white, Thora continued glancing around, seeking out her next destination. With only an opening to the front and one behind her, it seemed her only logical path would be forward. Though her fear only mounted at the prospect of blindly walking deeper into the dungeons, a completely new frontier for her, she had no other choice.

And so forward she went.

Interacting with : @Bridget Collins, @Starlee Kennedy, @Cassandra Ironwoods
Mentioning : @Santario Martin
Open to Interactions

Illowy grimaced as the bird was practically torn from her friend's hair. Why sure, she was glad it was at least effective, she certainly hadn't intended to rip a patch of hair from her friend's head, "Are you okay?" she asked, anxious that Bridget would be upset at the other girl assessed the damage before thanking her and starting to put her hair up in a pony tail. At least one of the benefits of magic was that even something so... unseemly, could be properly rectified once they were finished with their little adventure.

Then came the awful scream that nearly made Illowy jump out of her skin and chilled her. Bridget seemed to read her mind as she started toward the where the scream had stopped as quickly as it came; close on Bridget's heels, the girls hurried through the doorway into the significantly smaller next room, a well in it's center where another girl was already peering down.

Tentative to how sturdy the possibly ancient well might've been, Illowy carefully leaned over the lip, taking care not to lean on the stone. Her eyes went wide seeing one of the first years at the bottom of a near 40-foot drop, along side the completely crumpled Santario. Granted, she and San didn't quite see eye to eye, especially since the Masque, but they were teammates and housemates, and there was still some loyalty to be found in that, "Are you two out of your bloody minds?" she called down, in any situation that didn't have her worried half to death, it might've come across as nearly aggressive. Illowy had a soft place for first years, let alone someone who was also on her dueling team who she would have expected to know better; but there would be time for being angry at San later.

Cash already seemed on it to try to retrieve the first year, but truthfully... Illowy was wary of the second year's ability to get the youngest of this little group up safely, "Starlee, we're gonna get you both taken care of." she promised, trying to decipher if the first year was just being strangely calm naturally, trying to cover up how scared she was, or just in some kind of shock from being hurt. Either way, the most important task at hand now was to just get the girls up safely.

In the event that Cash's Leviosa would manage to get Starlee off the ground, Illowy would praise the second year for her good work, never taking her eyes off the first year in the well until she was safe. Though should the Leviosa falter or fail while Starlee is in the air, Illowy would rush into action, "Arresto Momentum!" she would cast, hoping to save the child from yet another harsh fall.

For Moderation :
Location : Room #3
Actions : Move to Room #3, casting Arresto Momentum if Cassandra's Leviosa fails while Starlee is in the air.
Abilities : Lovely Creature
HP : 700/700
Stats : Stamina: 7 | Evasion: 8 | Strength: 5 | Wisdom: 9 | ArcPower: 7 | Accuracy: 9

Upon tasting salt, Jack seemed to have been rendered dumbstruck for quite a while. Despite others talking around and maybe even to him, he seemed to remain oblivious; perhaps lost in thought. It wasn't until he noticed Evelynn's inventory that he decided to make note of his own with the pencil and paper he had brought (listed below). Furthermore, the salt he had tasted had given him an idea.

The boy took out the bluebottle broom left to him by his older adopted brother. Though he was still too young to ride it in flight and the dungeons were much too low anyway, a broom had other uses. One such use was to sweep up the salt into a small pile. From there, he scooped as much of the substance as he could into a small pocket of his bag. One never knew when something as versatile and handy as salt could be useful, particularly where magic and witchcraft were concerned. There were more malevolent supernatural things than Jack could name that were repelled by the purity of salt.

Satisfied, the redhead looked up only to find himself nearly alone in the first room. Most of the others had seemed to move on without him. Not that he blamed them, but this posed a bit of a problem for the Welsh lad. He had not forgotten what day it was, after all.

For a claustrophobic boy to spend his birthday of all days in the dungeons was just plain awful. Jack didn't like it, but he knew Flash wasn't likely to place his own saftey or comfort above those of others. If his housemates or people he knew and cared about were down there, he would be, too. The least Jack thought he could do was look out for Flash while Flash was looking out for everyone else. Besides, he thought, he still needed to make sure he was aware he owed him a birthday favor to use or save as he wished.

Though Jack would have liked to meticulously go over the rest of room 1 inch by inch, he couldn't afford to slow down with Flash forging ahead to keep up with the others. Gathering up the salt had taken enough of his time. Determined to stay close to his blue-eyed brunet English dorm mate, the Welsh redhead hurried onward into the next room. There he was just in time to see Dan, Flash, and Søren all kicking down a door.

Percival Rainwood was nearby...holding...was he holding Ileen Knight's hand? Jack decided not to look too closely and turned away; he didn't want to know if he was. As for Evelynn, she remained dutifully watchful and observant nearby, ready to write or sketch anything of interest in the rooms as they came across them.

There was some girl talking on the other side of the door, but Jack didn't strain his ears trying to properly make out her words, nor did he try to get closer to where the other boys were lined up. If they managed to know the door down, they'd find out more about who was behind it soon enough.

Open to interactions
Interacting with: None
Mentioning: @Søren Silverwood, @Percival Rainwood, @Evelynn Decipio, @Ileen Knight, @Flash Holmwood, @Søren Silverwood, & @Dan Palmer
Location: Moving from Room 1 to Room 2
Action: Sweeping up the salt from Room 1 with the Bluebottle broom into his bag
Abilities: Prodigal Charms Learner; Binding Mark
Stats: Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 7 | Strength: 3 | Wisdom: 10 | ArcPower: 7 | Accuracy: 7
Inventory: Bluebottle broom, bag, wand, invisibility cloak, Locksmith's Knife, a bottle of holy water, pencil, paper
Post Tracker: [1] [2] [3]

Okay, maybe Koko wasn't the most observant.

...Actually, she knew she wasn't very observant, not at all. In fact, she tended to be bad at noticing even the smallest things.

Nevertheless, her Alohomora didn't seem to do much - in fact, as she glared at the door that had not clicked, she gritted her teeth. She wasn't that bad at magic! Sure, she was far better on a broom than with a wand, but...

Reaching out with her free hand, she poked the door with her finger, watching with wide eyes as it moved - oh, it had been open, hadn't it?

Ugh. It had been open more than a crack, and she hadn't noticed.

Fighting the urge to facepalm, Koko ducked into the room.

It was dimly lit, and there seemed to be milk crates littering the ground. She attempted to move around the majority of the bottles on the ground, and to her surprise, she nimbly darted around some of them before her limited vision lessened. With a sigh, Koko pondered turning back - it was probably safer, after all, and definitely easier.

But... Sapphire had come down here, and what if she had a good reason?

Koko took a deep breath and continued.

She completely expected to faceplant a few times; more than that, she was ready to cast anything if she needed to - a lumos would probably have been helpful. Nevertheless, she somehow made it around the bottles, and she grinned when she realised she was... in a room full of darkness. Probably the same room, but because she couldn't see a thing, she had no clue.

Koko began to walk a little more, sniffing the air - still dank and mildewy. Had she expected anything else? She didn't think so. She was in the dungeons, after all; it wasn't going to smell great.

"Sapphire! It's perfectly safe!" Koko yelled, hoping her voice would carry. "Just... a little dark!" She wished she knew the Amplifying Charm, but as of right now, her voice would have to be loud enough. "You know, if you wanted to come this way!"

Koko chuckled drily, but her laugh cut off as she shivered. The noise echoed around her, and she suddenly felt very alone.

Reducio

Stats:
Stamina - 15
Evasion - 6
Strength - 3
ArcPower - 5
Wisdom - 6
Accuracy - 6

Abilities:
-Part Veela Alluring: 10% chance enemy friendly fires
-Evasive Manoeuvres: 10% auto dodge
-Part Veela Scream: Disorients (-1 accuracy and -1 evasion) or deafens up to 5 people.

Action - not taking one just yet
Interacting with @Sapphire Riddle

| Outfit |

Percival didn't know how he felt about walking through the small passageway into the next room. It was dark and it smelled damp. Too moist like they were in a cave. It was strangely calming but at the same time frightening. Both emotions pulling him every which way. He took the stairs down carefully unwilling to put himself at risk of falling.

The boy let out a sudden gasp as his hand was grabbed by an unknown source. He whirled around and could barely make out a familiar face. "Ileen don't scare me like that." he snapped annoyed at being startled. Despite his tone, he would not rip his hand out of the girl's hand. There was no point in doing so, and it was probably for the best. She was apart of the small group that he had formed, and it would do him well to stay close to them.

Percival let go of the girl's hand as soon as she realized they were still holding hands. An awkward look would cross his face before an annoyed expression overtook it. The boy looked about to see if Percival had entered into the second room along with them, but didn't see him. He did, however, note that Jack had managed the journey down the stairs. "See anything?" he would call over to the other. With any luck, one of them would find something of note. He would glance around the room in an attempt to see if the white powder trail would continue to another room. With any luck, they could just follow the line to wherever they needed to go.

Open to Interactions

Location: Room 2
Action: Looking to see if the white trail leads to any other rooms.

Interacting with: @Jack Burnett, @Ileen Knight
Mentioning: @Percival Gray

Reducio

|Sta 6 | Eva 6 | | Str 8 | Wis 5 | | Arc 8 | Acc 7 |

Inventory: ⋅ Metal Lighter ⋅ Scrap of Parchament / Fountain Pen

Foulplay ⋅ Lovely Creature

It did not take Mathis long to find the snow-haired House Matron, Miss Jensen. The lies came from his mouth easily enough, each false assertion seemed to flow from his mouth with relatively more ease than the last. There was something natural, no comforting about lies. Some might assert a sense of control was experienced or perhaps a mischievous high, this burst of adrenaline as he made these utterances and evaded detection. But no, that was not quite it because in the end he would be discovered and he knew it. That was the fun, that moment of discovery. His notion of novelty was in a way twisted and terrible but like all people, there was a spark of hope, a dying ember that would be forgotten over time. At this moment his lies had good intentions-- this would not always be so.

Mathias would lead the way, his back straight and his chin high. He had a sense of not just pride but also humor. A sardonic expression on his pale face would greet those that met him as he entered the Dungeons. The cool, damp air would leave a chill in his bones that would echo the sense of foreboding this place emanated. It was more than the darkness and the cold, the primal sensations that tug at a fearful juvenile mind but rather their willingness to follow, to hunt and to search for a hidden unknown 'threat.' Yes, 'threat'. While he knew nothing of the living darkness that cursed this school, he knew a great deal of people like them. That their curiosity was unnatural. Snakes rarely sought answers to mysteries.

"This way," he announced into the darkness as he listened to her footfalls and possibly her chatter if she could not accept the sensible peace that the quiet offered. He was but the guide on this journey, nothing more.

His pace would slow when they reached the chair and the salt line. He would not offer an explanation for the strange scene, the claim emblazoned on the wall - the unknown proof a madman had found. A meandering trail of granules lead into the distant darkness. There was of course a change besides the lack of Slytherin students investigating the oddity that was the chair and the salt. Curiosities he had bypassed then and would now also. his eyes would cast a downward glance as he looked at the displaced stones along the base of the wall.

There were three that might still remain (per the last moderation) @Percival Gray, @Michael Miller, @Jack Burnett
and/or @Søren Silverwood might have been passed by the smirking youth. If so, he would address them by saying nothing more than "...just passing through."

Entering Thread with Head of House Jensen.

Trust was not necessarily a word that was in her dictionary. She had started to do it more in the recent months or year but that did not mean she trusted easily. Whether or not she believed the lies that Pride had sprouted out did not matter, however. Hjørdis was under the impression that a few of her Slytherins were lurking around the entrance of the dungeons. Just a few. Holmwood being one of them. She had no idea how many of them there were - Pride was particularly vague about it, whilst being oddly specific about Holmwood at the same time. Nonetheless, she ventured in, following Pride wherever he went.

Her eyes narrowed instantly at the sight of any students that she came across. None of them were supposed to be here. A colder expression than usual would cross her face if her eyes fell onto @Percival Gray, @Michael Miller, @Jack Burnett or @Søren Silverwood. If any of them were still present, she would snarl at them, snapped her fingers, "Common room. Now." would be the only words she said, in a rather low tone that very much told them that they ought to know better than to venture off into the darkness of the castle by now.

Was it anger that laced her voice and surged through her heart or disappointed? She could not tell, in all honesty. But they should not have been there. They knew better by now than that. Of course, the dungeons were a lot safer now that several hags had been exterminated but that did not make them safe. The scars she hid every day told her that.

Was she going to have to expel everyone she saw for their own safety? It was starting to seem like it.

OOC: Sorry for the rushed/bad post. Just wanted to get something up but don't have the time/mental space right now, so keeping it short. Lear, feel free to godmod me if needed.

ACTION: Entering thread, following @Mathias Pride wherever he goes.

Kaegen Deathmore would hear the scream, no screams. Nothing specific, just cries for help. That there was someone out there. No multiple someones. That something terrible was happening. Of course Kaegen was a crazy person even on a good day. his mind filled with nonsense, the sort that would be smeared on the the walls of an insane asylum in chocolate. Yes, that was smelly chocolate.

The boy had queer fixations, the sort that would keep people up at night if they knew someone was having them. The sort of paranoia that rots someone from the inside, addles the mind and hardens their heart.

He could try to run, find a better place to hide but he would chose the path of observation. taking a secret passageway, something narrow and small that his small frame could squeeze through. The boy was more animal than young man, he would slither and squeeze himself through what would appear to others as a solid wall but Kaegen knew otherwise.

Left in the dark, he would listen and lurk. Sniff the stale, moist air. He would not smell anything out of the ordinary, there were some scents that came and went like waves. The scent of blood, always appetizing and ever-present. No, it would be the screams and the chatter that stood out the most. It would seem as if someone had fallen into one of the more obvious traps. Just round the corner, he could hear their voices coming from the right.

Kaegen was in 6B

Room 1

"Are you coming?"

A voice belonging to Ileen Knight would call up the stairs, her voice meeting the ears of Søren, Michael, Jack and Percival. The pack of young men would start to move, in the darkened stair an attack would land on Percival. It was a girl holding his hand, clutching it possessively, trapping it in her hold. Well, more like an awkward teen moment...

Percival leaves for Room 2

Søren Silverwood had only started this journey and he was getting left behind. As the crowd diminished, Silverwood would find himself among the last to leave the hall and descend the stairs. The second room was a collection of students far greater than the congregation that had gathered near the chair with the strange markings. A waste of time? Perhaps but even the most trivial thing becomes evidence when it is viewed from the right vantage point.

Søren left for room 2

Michael was busy thinking about Rainwood. The masochist that he was, his desire for someone that did not want him back. A unilateral covetous nature, carnal rather than spiritual or personal. He wanted someone older. Someone taller. Someone beautiful. Their love and respect for him came secondary to these features. His mind would finally wander off to @Earl grey (who now has a cameo in this post in Mike's dreams).

He would hardly notice that he was being left alone, he would scamper off after them.

Michael went to Room 2.

Jack Burnett was quiet for once. A strange novelty because he was never quiet. It was, if anything suspicious. Of course the boy was thinking about the substance on the floor, the abundance of SALT that was on the floor. Indeed, in witchcraft salt was useful and it was protective. So, he did what any logical Slytherin would, he swept up the potentially protective substance with his bluebottle. A mixture of dhirt, rat droppings and salt would be recovered by the redhead as he followed the party down the hall and the stairs into the next room.

Jack moved to Room 2, picking up salt as he want.

Thora Larkson, a late-comer would follow the sounds of the chatter. Pass the strange chair and amble to lonesome hall following the sounds of the chatter. Bridget was somewhere up ahead, it would take some effort to catch up to her friend.

Thora left for Room 2

Room 2

...and then there was screaming. Santario Marin screamed when she fell, few brave or silent when faced with their mortality. The scream would cease when she hit the floor.

The scream would summon Bridget Collins. A bird only recently liberated from her hair, the girl would rush with Illowy Magnard on her heels.

Bridget and Illowy left for Room 3.

Henry Knight was left thinking. He could smell it, the blood that is. Why did he smell it, that faint, lingering aroma. He would doubt the school, the staff, the Headmaster. Perhaps they knew, they allowed it, they covered it up. Was it possible for so many to keep a secret? The same secret? That none of the adults would suffer a moral crisis allowing such travesty. To what ends?

He was right that the school held more secrets than he could possibly know. More than anyone could know. The home to thousands of wizards to date, some mundane and some great. Henry Knight would come to a hasty conclusion --

" I think someone injured in that room, red," also known as 'Henry Llewellyn.' Henry would point ahead (to room 3) before adding in a whisper "we have to help them Red." The whispering defied logic in truth, concerned about an injury, smelling blood... he told himself that he was interested in helping but had that been his ultimate objective he would have made an announcement and rallied the collective strength of his peers for the injured sake but he did not. This was not about them, not really. This was in a way about Henry, be it pride or prestige. Being lauded a savior, a benefactor, something else entirely perhaps. The sorting hat chose well for Henry.

"Let's go,"[/b] Llewellyn with lit Lumos in hand would depart with Knight into room 3.

Henry 1 and 2 would enter Room 3

Søren's attention was drawn to the door to his right. Flash Holmwood and Dan Palmer were there and on the other side he would hear muffled shouts. There was a girl trapped on the other side. Things went wrong rather fast in Hogwarts it would seem, not that the assertion was up for debate. Unfussed even, the Slytherin would approach Holmwood and Palmer and offer a hand, well a foot rather.

“So, are we kicking this door down, or what?”

Flash had already determined that the door was unlocked. A correct assumption he reached through logical argument - the handle wiggled, jiggled freely but the door itself was stuck in place.

"Yes. Thank you." Flash would put a hand on the door and shout through it, his voice would come through to the girl on the other side muffled but clear enough. "Stand back!"

"I'm in here!"

A muffled voice would call back. Her saviors perhaps.

Equal in terms of physical might, the duo. No, there was another, Dan Palmer. He was going to contribute, now quite as brawny as the other two, he was more a barefooted lover than a fighter despite his big mouth. Confirmation inside, there was someone in there and they needed help. They would even hear the infamous Incendio be cast. When had that ever been an improvement on a situation? Almost never!

There might have been some screaming that followed, not that they would know it on the other side of the door. Not just the fire going spectacularly wrong, but also the raqts that continued to assail her.

Søren attempts to kick down the door.
Strength 7 + 18
Flash attempts to kick down the door.
Strength 7 + 4
Dan attempts to kick down the door.
Strength 4 + 14

Between the three of them, they would overwhelm the door. The wooden door would bow, the frame would crack and break. The hinges would rip from the aged, dry wood, exposing rusted and corroded screws that had not seen the light of day for at least a century. They would see a lone girl, Selim was not there - he had left her. She was on fire, a trio of rats coming at her.

@Violet Carrington was quite possibly overwhelmed by the chaos. She would not act in response to the screams and the other noises. The scattered worries and whispers. The ambitions of her peers. No, she stood there in the heart of the large space and merely observed.

Violet observation
Roll:1 critical failure

Violet would look around the room, seeking something of interest. Her keen observational skills would notice something of interest, a glint of light that came from room 10.

Speaking of Room 10, at the very least the space immediately outside. "Not 'meat'," the edible kind she observed. "'Me' and 'at'. Meet me at Hogsmeade." A simple, obvious message that was easily to identify once it was found. Could it be so easy? In the moment, Evelynn wouldn't realize that the one symbol had been mis-identified as an 'O' instead of the 'N' that was actually written down. "Do you think it has anything to do with that letter I showed you?" A letter that listed a number of ingredients that would make a rather powerful potion that was well above their level. In fact there had been a spelling error in Hogsmeade on that occasion as well. Just...not the same error. And there was a series of 4 numbers again. "6621," she echoed after Alexander Varellion. "June 6th, of this year, perhaps?"

Simple. Neat. Obvious. It had to be the answer. How foolish their predecessor was to leave this message here where it would so easily be found.

"Perhaps it's not a date at all? It could be an address. Or perhaps..." Perhaps there was something more. A puzzle hidden within. An intended message to decipher and then something else. Something deeper, with the first being discovered and curious ones arriving in time to see either nothing, finding a diversion or a trap. "Er..."

Riddle was on a graceful suicide mission as she leapt and twirled through the room with an unexpected grace whilst Alexander tried to clear a path through the room. Was there really a plan here? What would she do when she reached the other side of the room? Well, that is for further discussion under room 10.

Alexander would sing a song, make his work go faster, easier, more enjoyable. Mining away at the endless glittering bottles. Click. Clack.

“Lumos.”

Ileen cast Lumos
Roll: 4

Ileen Knight would declare her word of power and light her wand. At last she would try but the warmth of Percival's hand was far too distracting. She could not keep her mind on the task at hand and the light would sputter and fail.

There was still enough light from her contemporaries, she was not let in the dark. Ileen would turn to Percival and Eve. “Do you see anything odd?”

Evelynn would explain to curious questioning peers the simple truth of what they had learned. "Although it seems they—" That is Alexander Varellion and Flash Holmwood "—found a hidden message." She would show off the translation from the transfiguration alphabet. How hidden was using a language taught in their earliest of years? "Although we're not quite certain what it might be implying. Do the numbers mean anything to you at all?"

Evelynn's Keen Eye.
1-25 means success
Roll: 62

She would take a look at the mismatching collection of bottles Alexander had collected. They were brightly colored, blues and reds and yellows. Mostly primary colors, but there were a few greens, a couple that were clear, some that looked distinctly orange or purple.

Evelynn observes the bottles.
Roll: 17

She would not be able to identify anything of interest by looking at the bottles. They were unlabeled. None of them matched and they varied from old mason jars with screwed on lids to corked bottles and even discarded pop bottles. She would unscrew the cap on one such bottle, the contents a sunny yellow. The scent, distinctly that of --- bleach? yes, it smelled like a cleaning product. Nothing more, nothing less. was this merely a room filled with cleaning products left in unlabeled bottles. Why were they colored. Bleach did no color, if anything bleach removed color as far as she could likely recall. She popped the cork on another, had another sniff. Bleach yet again, this time the fluid was blue. Another, a more pungent scent in an old soda bottle. The fluid red. Another cleaning product, but definitely not bleach. Ammonia maybe?

"Is the white powder still here?”

An answer Evelynn would not immediately receive. If she looked around,. she would not see a distinct path any longer. The path had been trampled over, thankfully there were some that would have seen where the path went before too many curious investigators had come to the dungeons.

Percival would eye the area around him, his hand now free. The salt was not particularly easy to see.

Percival observes the salt.
Roll: 6

Not not most observative, he would still see something. Jack was making it rather obvious with his broom and his sweeping. He was making his way through the center of the room to the other side. The led to the middle room (Room 2).

Jack's own attention split between the salt and Flash kicking down a door dramatically with two other young men, they were like a remake of Charlies Angels, just perhaps a bit less fashionable. "See anything?" The lovely creature would call out to the redhead.

Room 3

A trail of grainy white would meander from room 2 into this room and circle around a dry well with a mysterious light coming from it.

The room was a trap quite indeed, banking on curiosity and recklessness the false bottom well was a simple trap devised of a natural structure, a sheet of paper, a rough drawing, some ink far enough away to appear as a bottom and a magical candle at the very bottom that shone through the paper well enough to confuse onlookers who viewed the curiosity from above. It did not look 'right' of course, but stones do not glow. Why did they glow? Dangerous curiosity brought an early end to Santario Martin. Her scream could be heard in the room adjacent. The terrible thud but those in the room.

"C-Cash... maybe this wasn't a good idea..."

Was all Starlee was able to stutter before the tragic event, her own grip waning and lost a moment after. She would fall, she would feel the pain. Had she ever broken a bone before, a unique sensation. The crunch is not always heard, the break not always fully realized. It was just pain and the body's natural sense reaching a state of panic. I need help a bleary sense of dread that would come in a wave and wash away a moment later as her better senses recovered and she moved off the Duelist below her.

Her leg was broken, there were two bones in the lower leg - fibula and tibia. For the leg to bend so unnaturally, both would have to be broken.

"S-Santario... are you okay?"

There would be no answer. Santario was not moving.

If she looked up, she would see the distance that she fell, it was not a short fall. Some of her classmates had fallen this far learning to fly their brooms, only their landings were not on a stony floor but spongified grass. "Cash... CASH! Can you get us out of here? I... I think my leg is broken... There's nothing down here... I think it was some sort of trap..."

Indeed, a crudely created trap. "Just - just hold on, okay. I am going to help you" She called back. No assurances that anything was going to be fine, they would be lies anyways. She would look around, a sense of dire urgency as she sought something,anything that could be used to pull Starlee up. She never asked about Santario, the girl might be a later consideration but for the moment the unfortunate at the bottom was left unaddressed.

"Lumos!"

Starlee cast Lumos.
Roll: 12

The tip of her wand would start to glow, she would see Santario's crumpled form beneath her. The ripped paper that was haphazardly taped, yes TAPED in place gently flapped back and forth.

Henry Knight and Llewellyn would enter in time to see Cassandra looking into a well.

Henry L's Keen Eye
1-25 is success
Roll:47

Bridget Collins and Illowy Magnard not long after, the Lumos Maxima from H²'s wand made the dreary place almost cheery if it was not for Cassandra looking down into a well. It was not until Starlee had successfully cast Lumos that any of them could see the extent of the damages. Starlee was down there and she was moving, conscious, awake and saying words. Santario Martin was doing none of these things. She was not moving at all.

Illowy would peer over the lip of the well and see the scene. "Are you two out of your bloody minds?" She rebuked the two of them.

There was no rope nor ladder, if there ever was, it had been removed in favor of creating this diabolically simple trap. The sort a kobold was more likely to come up with than some maddened genius.

"What happened?"

Bridget would ask Cassandra. The answer was simple, they saw something shiny so jumped into a random hole that was way deeper than either of them imagined. They got hurt. It would have been preferable if there was a better story to give than shiny ⇨ broken bones.

"They - they... They saw a light down in the well and then they just jumped"

As unbelievable as it sounded, that was the truth.

She had one idea. In class they learned to levitate feathers and with grand effort they were able to achieve this. According to their textbook and lecture the inventor was able to do so much more. Believed to be a means of flight, erroneously, it still gave the man a lift and that was exactly what Starlee needed.

Rightful doubt in Illowy's mind, she made a hollow promise that she could only hope to keep. "Starlee, we're gonna get you both taken care of."

"Wingardium Laviosa."

Cassandra casts Wingardium Laviosa.

She mispronounced the incantation and something terrible would indeed happen. Starlee would be shot out of the well, yanked by her trousers.

Thinking quickly, Illowy would try to intervene. She needed to stop this maddened flight, so she cast a spell of her own. "Arresto Momentum!"

Illowy casts Arresto Momentum
Cast: 19 (Success)
Accuracy: 1 (Crit Fail, hits another target)
Target: Cassandra

She tried to save her but everything was moving so fast, her wand misfired and hit Cassandra instead. The Slowing Charm (Arresto Momentum) was a charm that could be used to slow the velocity of an object. Cassandra was not actively moving, but she would find when she tried that her movements were slowed.

That was not the only problem, there was also Starlee. She would crash pelvis-first into the ceiling. What was broke, was now busted. Perhaps the girl would scream again before she made impact when she knew that it was immanent. Then she would fall.

Starlee was rendered unconscious
50% chance of falling back into the well.
1-50 back in well.
Roll:

TWOOMP

As quickly as the girl rose, she would fall back down the well again. A sickening noise as she made impact with the floor, more than a leg was now broken. [shoulder and pelvis]

Room 4

Piper Clark was abandoned heartlessly by Selim Faust. Left alone with a trio of aggressive rats. The Lumos charm gave her the comfort of light, but it was hardly comforting. She was alone, unwanted and not considered. Trapped in a booby-trapped room, a recurrent theme that the students might quickly realize. This homestead was defended like a 1990s McCauley Calkin movie, this would end poorly for everyone involved.

"Stand back!"

A muffled voice would announce from the other side of the door.

"I'm in here!"

She would call back. Yes, she was there. She was alive. She needed help! This was not a moment for stubborn pride. For individual, lonesome ambitions. This was a time where they needed to work together. To look out for one another, to use but not abuse. To grow, to save and to develop. To be better together.

She just needed to live long enough for help to find her.

"Incendio!"

Piper casts Incendio.
To cast: 9
Accuracy: 1 critical failure

The incantation was right. The wand movement was as well. The problem was the panic and dismay, the survival instinct most Slytherins lacked. The fire would erupt, just not on a rat, but her pantleg. A flare of heat, a searing burn.

140 damage done. she is on fire, 18 damage/round.

The pain would not end there, the rats were still hungry, viscous animals. They would scurry about the perimeter of the room and then lunge at the girl in the dim darkness, her Lumos extinguished with the flare of the fire she had cast on herself. The only light presently in the room.

Rats attack Piper
attack 10 + 5
evasion 1 + 5
attack 20 + 5Critical Success
evasion 16 + 5
attack 5 + 5
evasion 2 + 5

The three of them would dig their teeth into the little girl. Their little claws would dig into her and their diseased little maws would take small chunks out of her. A sudden hard BANG, then a crack and a tearing noise, the door would be knocked inward and three boys. not the most graceful looking bunch, the throes of adolescence were not particularly kind but at this moment they were the brawniest men the girl had ever seen.

Thank Merlin they did not walk the other way. That they did not give into their self-serving nature and broke down that door.

Room 5A

Screaming came from Room 4. The room had 'art' on the walls that Selim could no longer see thanks to the darkness.



That covered all four sides, but there was also numbers. Yes, numbers written on the walls in messy, thick writing.




On the floor, more words.




The door was closed tightly behind Selim.

The room was very small. Small enough that if he were to extend his arms, he could touch the walls on either side. There was no door handle, but there were doors on every side of him, not just in front of him but also to the left and the right. He could smell flour. There was something heavy once again blocking his way back (as well as someone else's way in). In addition, he was not alone in this room, there was a singular diseased rat that was in the room also.

So Selim Faust was left in the dark with a rat, a nocturnal creature that had acclimated to the night better than the wizard had. In his confidence he had made a dangerous mistake moving too far ahead. yes, he had found blessed peace with the isolation of this room but he had lost the illumination of that girl's light. He had lost an ally. He was alone in a setting where the rats saw him as a meal, an unknown lurked in these halls and the 'traps' cared not who they were sprung upon.

Selim attempts to kill the rat. (disadvantage because of the darkness)
DC 15
Attack: 4, 13

Almost, but not quite, the rat would slip through his fingers but he would feel the bristle of their fur against the pads of his fingers. The scratch of small claws and disease-riddled teeth. The ache was not terrible but one that would remain with him for some time, the rat's teeth were not only sharp but they were also unclean. An infection would brew in those wounds in the next couple of days, fill with pus and swell, become red and sore. As dedicated as he was to the 'muggle way' of treatment only magic or antibiotics would treat that ailment but that would be his dormmates issue as much as it was their own.

Selim would wrap his wound, the rat would come for him again (the next round) as Selim ambled to the end of this short hall. He would not find a door in the darkness, in fact he saw no door that moment everything was illuminated. He saw 'decorated' walls. His fingers would feel depressions, seems perhaps. As if he was touching a doorframe on each of the walls. There would be no door handle. Just the numbers, a single number on each wall, one through four, as well as a maddened plea 'what is real.' The question might be less rhetorical than Selim credited his host.

"COMe oN oUt LittLE RoDenT. HOw AboUT you TRy FOr aNoTEHr BIte!?"

Yes, the most logical of choices: pick a fight with a rat in the dark. He was larger, more powerful and yet in the darkness he was at a severe disadvantage. The rat would nip away at him and even if Selim eventually squashed the light from the rodent and drank its lifeblood, he would be severely weakened by the repeated assaults if not today then later. Yet he was not thinking, he was doing.

His plan: eat it raw, traumatize the poor Head of House if she came upon his madness.

Room 10

Koko Riddle was lucky, the room was dimly lit only because of the open door and the incredible amount of Lumos charms in active user outside the room she occupied. She could see the outlines of the bottles, of the crate she was presently perched upon. It was in a way, like an obstacle course, the question was -- what happened for those who failed?

"Sapphire! It's perfectly safe!"

Koko yelled, her voice would carry far enough to be heard by those including Sapphire in the room adjacent.

"Just... a little dark!"

She was not the most observant, and thankfully Alexander was busying himself with the removal of the bottles to make a clear path. Not everyone was a sideshow circus performer.

"You know, if you wanted to come this way!"

What Happened and Where?
Returning
@Mathias Pride returning to topic with Professor Jensen.

Room 1
@Percival Gray never posted [Room 1]
@Michael Miller left for Room 2. [Room 2]
@Jack Burnett left for Room 2 [Room 2]
@Søren Silverwood left for [Room 2]
@Thora Larkson left for [Room 2]

Room 2
@Thora Larkson would enter from Room 1. [Room 2]
@Søren Silverwood would enter from Room 1. Kicked in the door leading to Room 4. [Room 2]
@Henry Llewellyn would leave for Room 3 [Room 3]
@Henry Knight would leave for Room 3; maintaining Lumos Maxima. [Room 3]
@Bridget Collins Left for Room 4 [535 health remaining] [Room 4]
@Sapphire Riddle did not post [Room 2]
@Opeila Winters [490 health remaining] [Room 2]
@Evelynn Decipio Observes the bottles - cleaning items? [Room 2]
@Violet Carrington would observe, seeing a glint of light coming from Room 10. [Room 2]
@Alexander Varellion moves between Room 2 and Room 10, moving bottles from 10 into 2. [Room 10]
@Flash Holmwood kicked in the door to Room 3. [Room 2]
@Percival Rainwood [Room 2]
@Astrea Soleil Neptune [Room 2]
@Dan Palmer Maintains Lumos. Kicked in the door to Room 3. [Room 2]
@Illowy Magnard Moved to Room 3. [Room 3]
@Sarah Lightwood did not post; maintaining Lumos. [Room 2]
@Michael Miller entered from Room 1. [Room 2]
@Jack Burnett entered from Room 1; has collected salt that was for once not the ire of his peers. [Room 2]

Room 3
@Henry Llewellyn would enter from Room 2 [Room 3]
@Henry Knight would enter from Room 2; maintaining Lumos Maxima. [Room 3]
@Starlee Kennedy trapped at the bottom of a well. Broken leg, shoulder and pelvis. Cast Lumos successfully. Hit with a critically failed Leviosa, hit the ceiling and then fell back into the well. Failed death saving throw x1. Unconscious. 0/400 health [Room 3]
@Santario Martin Unconscious at the bottom of a well. 0/600 health [Room 3]
@Cassandra Ironwoods Critically failed Leviosa; hit by Arresto Momentum (slowed movements); no longer maintaining Lumos [Room 3]
@Bridget Collins Entered from Room 2 [535 health remaining] [Room 4]
@Illowy Magnard Entered from Room 2.Successfully cast Arresto Momentum but due to critical failure hit the wrong target (Cassandra), she had tried to save Starlee. [Room 3]

Room 4
@Piper Clark Lumos canceled by Incendio. Set herself on fire. [-140 damage] On fire. [-18 damage/round] Attacked by rats, 3 bit her one being a critical. [-100] There are a total of 3 rats in the room with her. A bust is preventing the door from opening, someone is trying to get inside from Room 2. Door back to Room 2 has been kicked open. [235/600 Health remains] [Room 4]

Room 5A
@Selim Faust is locked in a room alone and in the dark. There is 1 rat inside there with him. His attack on the rat missed, the rat however already had a grip on him and took another bite from him. [-25 health] 450/500 health remaining. [Room 5A]

Room 6B
@Kaegen Deathmote Lurks in Room 6B that he entered from 15B. [Room 6B]

Room 10
@Alexander Varellion moves bottles from Room 10 into Room 2. There is a mostly clear path through the room at this point. [Room 10]
@Koko Riddle entered from Room 2; has left the bottles in the room somehow undisturbed. She is in room 10. [Room 10]

Room 15B
@Kaegen Deathmote is on the move. [Room 15B][/quote]

Remember:

• 1 action per round.
• May move into up to 1 room.
• Observation is an action, but there are some passive effects that have grant users some passive observations.
• You cannot hear what is happening in the rooms adjacent unless it is screamed, please do not metagame. With screaming, up to 2 rooms. Just remember, others can hear you too.
• To escape, must return to Room 1.

Jensen and Pride

For the sake of stress, they had only entered Room 1. The dark hallway that was now abandoned, had they failed to post or leave they would have been discovered and sent back to their dorm by an irked Head of House. Mathias might be mildly surprised by the fact that nobody was still here bu it took him some time to find Jensen and then return. The students would only loiter for so long near a chair that had gleaned someone's unhealthy interest.

There were a few changes that Mathias might notice. The lack of salt on the floor. The misplaced stones to their left that revealed a small hidden nook that the traveling duo would not have the chance to investigate unless they chose to remain here. The stairs ahead awaited them, deeper into the dungeons. It was rather dark at this point. A dim outline of the stone walls and the empty sconces met them on either side. The fading dim light, the final vestige of a safe and known civilization was behind them.

Mathias and Hjørdis enter room 1

The Professor
@Hjørdis Jensen is in Room 1. It is dark. [Room 1]
@Mathias Pride

@ is in Room 1. It is dark. [Room 1]
[/quote]