In Search of the Source of the Creeping Darkness Main Story

[font=century gothic]INTERACTING WITH @Alexander Varellion | MENTIONING @Flash Holmwood, @Koko Riddle | PROXIMITY TO n/a[/font]

Reconvening with Flash in the bottled hall, she'd nodded solemnly as he explained the cloak. Initially, she'd thought it to be a summon, a request to hand the cloak back over to him. Instead, it seemed as though he was encouraging her to make use of it. Perhaps she ought to. She would, she had decided. The moment she was clear of the rest of the bottles, anyway. She really didn't want to knock any of them over. The particulars of which scent it was still plagued her, but she was certain the hall was one giant bobby trap, and couldn't shake the feeling that the mixing of solutions should the bottles break and their contents intermingle would spell disaster.

No, best to keep heavily swaying hems away.

"Quite right," Evelynn had agreed, once again nodding her assertion to Flash's suggestion.

The moment that she had seen the two other slytherins ahead forking off in different directions, she had settled on the notion of suggesting to her counterpart that they split ways to make sure nobody be left alone. Once again, contentment made itself known even during the stress of the situation at just how compatible hers and Flash's thought processes were. It really was a shame that her obligations kept her as busy as they did, or that the two didn't share a dorm. Their relationship was one that she wished she could invest in further.

"Do be safe," her urging trailed after him as the two parted ways, just after she had returned his journal to him.

Taking the left fork, Evelynn turned the corner just in time to see the so called Varellion disappear into a room at the end. She was picking her way carefully along the hallway when she heard the crash. Her steps increased in their pace at the sound, both worried that someone might hear and hurry after them; but also worried that he might have found himself into trouble. One hand clutched tightly around the not-currently floating candle, its flames casting obscure shadows that danced and flickered—ignored, lest nerves encroach and get the better of her—along the walls as she passed. Into the other, she pulled her wand from the hidden sheath on the inseam of her buckle leather riding boot.

The smell of plastic accosted her as cozied up next to the doorway, keeping herself initially out of sight. Back to the wall, she lobbed the floating candle to hover in the doorway and peaked her head around the edge. What she saw made her suck in air with surprise, eyes flying wide at the sight of... something... A wooden doll? Attaching itself to the Slytherin's face like something out of Alien.

"Im—!"

Wheeling around the corner and stepping into the room with every intent to help the boy and intervene, Evelynn had been about to spout immobulus, thinking to freeze the creature in its tracks and allow Varellion a moment's respite to pry it from his face. Only... the spell only worked on the living as far as she understood. And it looked more like a Blinsky doll or animated construct than anything truly living. In a flash decision to abandon that notion, she switched gears and shouted, "Wingardium leviosa!" instead. Perhaps if she could levitate it she could render it helplessly suspended until they figured out what to do with it.

[font=century gothic]ACTION: Trailing after Varellion, entering room 11, casting Levitation Charm at the doll thing[/font]

[font=century gothic]STA | 8‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‎ STR | 2‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‎ EVA | 10 WIS | 10‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‎ ‎ ARC | 2‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‎ ‎ ACC | 10 KEEN EYE — There is a 25% chance of automatically finding something. FEARLESS — Immunity to fear effects.[/font]

[font=century gothic] ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‎ INVENTORY ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‎ — Broom Compass — Sketched Map of Underground — Locksmith's Knife — Wizard's Tight — Magical Candles / Lighter — Flash's Invisibility Cloak — Bottle with blonde hair[/font]

Hjørdis could give no more than a look at @Mathias Pride's overly innocent look. Uhh huh. But for now, she had no choice. It was times like this when she wondered how useful it could be to have multiple perfect clones of yourself. She also resisted the urge to roll her eyes as @Jack Burnett 'disappeared' dramatically. Right then. Perhaps if she pretended that she did not see it, then she would not have to deal with it. That was how that worked right? She could just be like "Oh, I had no idea he was there" when he wound up dead and she had to explain how he died on her watch. Seems accurate.

Nonetheless, Hjørdis moved on. There was too much to do, after all. Observing the new room as quickly as she could, she looked over to where @Bridget Collins was pointing. @Henry Knight also rushed up, confirming what Collins had told her previously. Right. A well, in the basement, that they had somehow fallen into. Two students were down there, likely in a state that no one should be in. Neither of the students was foolish enough to just randomly jump into a well, right? Well then... That made everything much more interesting. "Faen," Norwegian for "the devil" She mumbled to herself at the situation. This whole thing was a mess and she wanted to get them out of there. But jumping in was definitely not wise. Risking a levitation spell might not be a great idea either.

As carefully and quickly as she could do, Hjørdis attempted to find the way down. Not necessarily at the well but she looked around at the walls and the floor to try and observe another route down. There had to be a way down there - though she had no idea if it was in the same room or not. There had to be a route down, that was safe to get through - a backdoor or stairs or something. "There has to be a way down..." She replied to Collins, essentially telling her what she was doing. With her wand still lit, she observed the area as quickly as she could, "And never stray out of the light," She added as an afterthought, knowing the dangers of the dungeons far too well. The shadows were not something she wanted to deal with on top of everything else. There had not been another attack in a while but why trust it?

She had how many times had she been hit with the curse now? Four, right? She was hoping not to add a fifth today. Ignoring Henry - as well as the calls for him - she allowed him to do whatever he wanted. If students had a death wish, who was she to stop them? They only had themselves to blame if they were choosing to venture into a dangerous place alone.

"It was not there before?" She questioned, more interested in the fact that Collins was now holding something that was not there when she had been not too long before. Interesting... "Is anything else different?" She asked as she moved towards Collins and looked at the thing she had found. Casting the light onto it.

There's another way into the well. 3rd stone from the left, 2nd from the ground. hurry!

Along with a map. Well then... That made things more interesting. Whether or not she trusted it, she turned around the room to try and spot exactly where the map was pointing to. When she did, she would attempt to find the third stone from the left and the second from the ground as instructed. It could have definitely been a trap. "Stay back for a moment," She warned before she did anything, just in case it was a trap. But on the off chance that this was the thing she was looking for, she would attempt to find it. Tapping the stone with her wand - mostly because she did not want to touch it with her hand. She would push it with her hand if nothing happened - and it felt like a solid stone. However, after the multiple fake walls she had walked into in these dungeons, she preferred to avoid touching things directly with her hand.

ACTION: Attempt to find a way down using the note (Maintain Lumos Maxima if possible).

Mod in a few days -- please post if you intend to get into trouble.

Koko would have told herself that she was surprised there was danger, but that would have been a lie.

Darkness seemed to come at her. She waved her wand wildly as if her Lumos would do anything - it should have, right? - and watched as her wandlight seemed to be swallowed by the swirling darkness until -

'Agh!'

It was quiet, but after Koko let that slip, she became aware of pain spreading through her. The sensation was not unlike the bites from the spiders in the common room. A sort of morbid curiosity would have spurred on her thoughts had she not been far more concerned with her own well-being.

If Sapphire had gone through there, she was probably dead.

If Koko stayed, she might die, too.

Koko spun around to see a fellow Slytherin lurking behind the door, seeming almost concerned. She'd seen him before, she thought, and had she not been panicking she might have remembered a name.

Instead of greeting him, she darted out of the room as quickly as she could. Her hands were shaking - that was weird. They didn't usually do that.

She attempted to push the door shut although she didn't think she'd be able to do it on her own, so, looking at the boy, she hissed, 'Shut the door.'

Almost as an afterthought, she added, 'We can't let that... thing... get to anyone else.'

Action - Go back to room 10
Interacting with @Flash Holmwood

Many of you never posted, moving on because this adventure has been going on for some time. Some of your friends are hurt real bad.

Room 2

@Percival Rainwood liked to hurt things. He knew it, he had to. There was a sadistic pleasure, this surge of power that played into his fantasy. The utter destruction of a rat, that he had such power. Not just to force his will but to take a life. The fact that his female companion was not revolted but an ally only fed the fantastical sense that this brought him.

“There are more! We have to get her out of here!”

Ileen would cry. Piper was not leaving on her own and she was not going to be able to stand much longer. This was not the time to think about the fact that if she had not run off ahead that she would not be in this state. If she had made an effort to help herself by returning to the common space.

Percival would reach inside the room, yes that rat-infested space that @Piper Clark had locked herself in with the errant Faust. Attempt to grab her arm and pull her out, to safety. To familiar spaces where the rats were no more.

Percival attempt to grab Piper Clark and drag her out to Room 2.
Attack 6 (+7)
Evasion 18
Strength (Percival) 17 (+8)
Strength (Piper) 9

His hand would encircle the girl's wrist but the girl's wrist would slip away. She was too busy panicking, overwhelmed by the direness of her situation to think or react clearly. It was the obvious choice, accept aide and escape. It was an obvious decision to flee the infested room. But no, she was not a logical girl.

“Get out of there. Come to us.”

Ileen would also reach out to her but Piper would need to take it. Why wouldn't she take it? Why wouldn't she make an effort to save herself? The girl was cracked or in a state of delirious panic (as she never posted hard to say which).

Mathias would rush on past the girl and the older Slytherin that tried fruitlessly to drag her to safety. Facing off against a rat seemed hardly heroic but it was necessary. Not a word to any of them, all they would smell is a whiff of his cologne which smelled of seawater.

The dangerous duo: Ileen Knight and Percival Rainwood would deal with the rats. Ileen would try to halt the rat's relentless attack with the Immobulus Charm. Piper still needed to get out of there. Mathias was playing zoo keeper or lion tamer at some sort of budget zoo but he had the durability of tissue paper and Piper was only worse for the wear at this point. Ileen and Percival were the only reasonable people left on earth or at the very least in the room as the others just looked on (never posted).

“Immobilus!”

Ileen casts Immobilus
Roll: 6 (+8)
Acc: 1 (+9) Critical Failure
Evasion: 17 (+10)

She would attempt to help but the spell would backfire. Her arms and her legs would snap tightly against her sides unexpectedly. Impossible in this pose to hold her balance, she would rock back and forth and start to fall. The ground would come for her quickly and her descent would end abruptly when she slammed down onto the floor fast and hard.

Ileen is bound! Minor damage from the fall. Will wear off in 2 rounds. Percival HELP!

___________

Room 3

Henry Knight would pace back and forth between the pit that held the girls and the hall that would lead further into the dungeon. There were fleeting moments of hope that would come and go such as Burnett's entry and swift departure. He had not come there to help, only to hide and run away. Perhaps help was not coming. Perhaps he would have to do this himself.

"Maybe there's rope around here or another way into the well?"

There had to be a means by which the trap was made. A means to recover those who have fallen once the trap has been sprung. A means of egress in case the maker falls. There was no length of convenient rope waiting for them in the room. He was not going to give up. he could not. he would not.

A wave of probably relief would wash over him when a light heralded the approach of their housemother - Nora Jensen. He was not going to wait and share pleasantries, he would point with his wand in the direction of the well.

Professor Jensen! Bloody hell it's good that Bridget found you. Santario and Starlee are both at the bottom of the well and aren't moving, we think their unconscious perhaps."

It was the not like @Hjørdis Jensen was a 'bad' house mother, her children were just simply awful. They seemed to seek death with a cultish zeal, it was astonishing that her children had survived this far into their academic careers with little more than a curse, a bad memory or a few injuries. Injuries like these two at the bottom of the well.

What drives children to do foolish, dangerous things?

Jensen would try to find a way to get to the girls. Safely. There were so many risks in going down there, in trying to bring them up. A remote assessment was the best she had in this setting.

There was a map and instructions. How convenient. @Kaegen Deathmote was a weirdo but even he did not want to be responsible for a pair of deaths, that would be murder. "Stay back for a moment," she warned. She was well-aware of the dangers of the basement and that was before she knew that parts were booby-trapped by an unstable adolescent.

She would count out the stones, adjust herself according to the map. Tapping the stone with her wand - it was safer than her hand. A sharp sound, that of wood hitting stone would touch their ears. She would push it with her hand and she would feel the stone shift, it was indeed solid stone. Kaegen was not behind or a part of the illusionary wall that prevented them from discovering the location of their unwelcome residents last year. There was no mortar holding the stone in place. The stone could be easily removed.

Lumos Maxima Maintain (Nora)
Roll: 11 (Maintained)

[c0lor=teal]"Was this here before?"[/color] Bridget would ask.

No, no it was not. Yes, they were being watched.

Henry would not stay and watch the rescue. Professor Jensen and a third years Bridget and Illowy were there now. The three of them would get Santario and Starlee out he reasoned. Not a stranger to bad decisions since his peers had made one bad one after another. That scent of blood would draw him in, like a bloodhound he would pursue.

Henry would inch closer to Cash and whisper in her ear: "I'm going to go further in. If there is someone injured then shouldn't we find and help them, if you were injured and alone you would hope someone finds you right... Professor Jensen and the two third years should be able to them out Cash... stay safe and I'll see you tonight when we get out."

"Henry!"

She took half a step after him. "Henry, wait!" Going off by ones self was incredibly dangerous. This had been made apparent by the number of injuries already witnessed. The dungeons were boobey-trapped. The traps were not harmless pranks. Both Santario and Starlee continued to languish at the bottom of the pit. Were they even still alive?

Saving Throws
Santario: 1 Critical failure
Starlee: 4 Failure

They still needed help, they were dying. Henry was going to have to get himself killed on his own. Bridget would look on as Henry ran off.

Bridget Observes
Roll:2 Fail

She would not see anything of interest or note. The room was unchanged, there were no additional undiscovered resources or threats at this given moment.

Henry left for room 6a/b

___________

Room 4

Mathias would enter the room that once housed the rats. Only one girl was in there, his dormmate would be mysteriously absent. Indeed, Selim Faust had fled into this room some time ago. When Mathias left to find Professor Jensen, Selim Faust had scurried like a rat into this very room. Where he went from there was unknown but he was not in the crowded common area where most of the students had congregated (Room 2). He had to of gone further, deeper into the subterranean maze.

The room offered little, dimly lit only by the open door. A familiar, pungent, decaying scent would meet his nares. Surrounded by cool, uneven stone. Piper was worse for the wear, the victim of several bits and scratches by hungry rats. Her safety was the focus of his dormmate Percival and a girl he appeared to be fond of that he had not had an opportunity to meet. He would glance about the room, a crude gear-like hunk of wood that looked like it was bit into shape rather than cut with human tools with a rope and lead weight would suggest that trap that was once here. A net on the floor that once housed rats was now empty.

The only exit less the passageway he entered through was closed. Indeed the door directly across from him was intact and there was a frenzied noise. Like a maddened trapped animal. Possibly more rats he reasoned. Jerky in hand, he lured the rat. The rats would lurch, hungry not territorial they wanted to meat.

Rats attack Mathias
Attack 2 (+10) Miss
Evasion 16 (+7)
Attack 17 (+10) Hit
Evasion 17 (+7)
Auto-dodge: 40 Failed

The first of the two rats would come for Mathias and attempt to get a bite only to wildly miss. The second however would grab hold of the jerky with its caws and teeth. This was his opportunity, his hands relinquished the jerky and he would attempt to grab the rat and snap its small neck in his bare hands.

Snap its neck
Strength: 16 (+2) Success

It was a rather crude, yet effective tactic. His long, slender fingers would wrap around the the whole of the squirming vermin and the with a tight squeeze and twist there would be a high pitched noise, indeed a scream followed immediately but a crack. He would discard the jerky and rat both on the floor, the rabid beast still twitching. A feast for another one could reason.

___________

Room 5A

Instinct dictated that now was the time to panic. It burned! It burned this eyes and throat. If only Selim had the antidote. He was being exposed to the very fatal chloramine gas, the product of bleach and ammonia when mixed together. The best thing one can do when exposed to to seek an area of better ventilation, unfortunately vents and windows were sorely lacking in the dungeons. In fact, Selim was trapped. What was once a sense of security became a place of isolated terror. Selim had no friends, nobody to save him. He had abandoned them even when it was not necessary for his survival but rather to sate his curiosity and thirst for adventure at the expense of their comfort and health.

Now he was alone, he had abandoned them so why would they come running for him? The person who abandoned them without a second thought like they were nothing because they were. His eyes would water and burn. There would be this pressure in the bridge of his nose, sinuses filling with salty tears. His throat, airways feeling as if they were set ablaze, swollen and narrow. A whistle with his breaths, he would find it hard to fill his lungs with precious, burning air. His stomach would churn, bile crawling up his throat.

He would claw, his likely unkept nails would scratch and scrape downward like a wild animal as he tried to breech the door through which he came. The locked door that had served as a barrier between himself and the girl locked on the other side with those hungry rat. The girl he had abandoned without a second thought.

Selim's scratching can be heard from the other side of the door.

__________________________

150 wrote:Room 6a/b

The hallway of neither, the passageway was unlit and filthy. Armed with a lumos, he would come to a T in the passageway - go left or go right. Kaegen Deathmote was not far, he had hidden himself in the corner of the passageway. A crumbled mass of what would appear to be dust and cobweb-covered rags.

Stealth Check
Kaegen 14 Success (not seen)
Henry 4 Failed

He would not note anything amiss with the pile of rags in the corner of the passageway. Just discarded refuse that was now inhabited with likely vermin. His slow, controlled breaths barely perceivable. He would just have to remain still and hope that henry passes over him like the monsters outside his door.

________________

Room 10

@Evelynn Decipio would take care to move through the room of bottles. The contents of the bottles, that cleaning solution, was dangerous if mixed and she ere to be exposed. Something @Selim Faust had the displeasure of discovering. She and @Flash Holmwood would part ways at the T -- one to the left and the other to the right. Neither leaving one alone but their like-minded nature was not something those they followed shared - they would now split the collective.

Perhaps it would have been better if they remained together, then they would not be expected to perform any heroics. Alas, they would have to save their peers because both would be in a predicament. Why they decided to run off ahead in the obviously trapped dungeon was anyone's guess. There is no prestige and honor in being dead or having to be saved yet again.

Evelynn left Room 10

_________________

Room 11

@Evelynn Decipio split off from @Flash Holmwood in pursuit of @Alexander Varellion The scent of plastic met her when she traversed the threshold. A cloak would not hide much if she was carrying a candle unless she intended to set the cloth aflame. She lobbed the floating candle to hover in the doorway and peeked her head around the edge.

Something was attacking poor Alex. It was a doll, some sort of unliving yet somehow animate novelty that had adhered itself to the teen's face.

"Im—!"

I'm fine, Alex is not. Indeed, this toy could have been something ripped from Barovia itself. Stitched together crudely, made of mismatched parts, it was a small, ragged creation that had life and power.







She had to do something, help Alexander in some small regard but she knew nothing of the creature. There had been instances, these fleeting moments here and there where she might have thought that she had seen something. Tricks of the mind truly. She probably heard the rumors - that there was something more, something living and small, but the details would have eluded her until now.



"Wingardium leviosa!"



Eve announced a word of power, the incantation that would hopefully give rise to the creature so firmly attached to Alex's face.

Evelynn casts Wingardium Leviosa.
Wisdom DC 5 (+10)
Attack 3 (+10) Miss
Evasion 18

Her hand perhaps shook or her voice quavered. The doll was unaffected by her attempt to liberate Alexander's face. It would hold onto him tightly, it was trying to suffocate him.

KEEN EYE — There is a 25% chance of automatically finding something.
Roll: 86 Unsuccessful

It was hard to tear her eyes away from the scene, if there was more to know, more to see... she would not take immediate note of her surroundings. Not beyond the basic notion that it was a workshop and the eerie noises that had become synonymous with dungeoneering. The creek of wood, the groan of walls and stone, the skitter of unseen vermin or perhaps feet.



But the voice heard, well voices depsite how similar they sounded, they came from different places suggested that there were many hidden in this derelict workshop. That there was a tinkerer of sorts and that their strange perversions would be of grand interest if it was not for the fact that they, yes THEY were being attacked.

From the darkness, another would dart towards Evelynn. Small and armed with a sewing needle and string.

Doll attacks Evelynn
Attack 6
Evasion 18

Evelynn would avoid the crazed creation, but Alexander would not be so lucky. The doll was still firmly attached to Alexander's face. bruising his flesh and tearing at him but there was a terrible objective. A needle would be drawn from its body and it would plunge the needle with thread into Alexander's lower lip and pull it through his upper. Indeed the puppet was crudely sewing the boy's mouth closed.

Yes, this gets dark.

Alexander is not able to speak, his mouth is sewn closed.

Alexander Maintains Lumos
Roll: 10 Success

All that would be heard if Alexander tried to scream would be a muffled noise. His wand still had a light on the very tip that would bob and shake as the youth flailed.

____________

Room 12

Flash should not have followed Koko Riddle down that hall. Flash should have known the dangers of splitting the party, even if he would have the foresight to never leave anyone alone. He knew that the dungeon was dangerous, rife with traps and yet he moved onward, deeper and further from his allies, from those with the power to protect him. It would be him that is responsible for the safety now of another living person.

He should have stayed with the more reasonable but likely just as soon to be dead Evelynn.

"Wait!"

Flash would cry out, the scent of blood his first warning. it was a scent that one comes to recognize when they have smelt it before. The putrefaction of blood happens quickly. This sour-stale scent of decay, like old meat but with a pungent bitterness that was difficult to ignore. He knew the scent of blood because he had smelled it before, his knew the scent of his own blood. He would not be able to stop her, she never paused to check on her peers and she blindly crusaded into the depths of the dungeon without a thought.

The door opened, the darkness would come for her. The darkness that filled his nightmares. the darkness he and every one of the children had come to know and fear. Perhaps Koko believed that a basic charm would always be enough. A lumos at the end of her wand and she could always push it back, that she would always be safe. That it was fine to be reckless because there would not be any consequences.

'Agh!'

Koko would cry out. A pain, a new sort of anguish that she had never felt before. It stung like a newly exposed wound but it was deeper. It was not just skin deep.

"Get out of there!"

Flash would cry. Koko would scurry out of the room and run to Flash, stumbling over the threshold.

'Shut the door.'

She announced, in the safety of the hall.

'We can't let that... thing... get to anyone else.'

Koko Lumos maintain.
Roll: 6 success

They were not alone, the creature, a darkness that refused to relinquish it's grip on the girl had trailed in after. The light from Koko's Lumos would continue to be stubbornly maintained but the darkness would not fade. It was able to fight, to fight against the light! They needed more, they needed to fight back. The terrible dark, mutated arachnid made of pure gloom.

Koko would know pain and Flash would bear witness first hand to the curse. The anguish, the insistence of what should have been insert. The darkness and death it left in its wake. A multi-year curse that had affected many, that would one day afflict them all but to what ends!

Flash & Koko Moved to Room 11

What Happened?

Room 1
@Percival Gray never posted. [Room 1]

Room 2
@Mathias Pride entered room 4 [Room 4]
@Michael Miller never posted. [Room 2]
@Søren Silverwood never posted. [Room 2]
@Thora Larkson never posted. [Room 2]
@Opeila Winters never posted [490 health remaining] [Room 2]
@Violet Carrington never posted. [Room 2]
@Percival Rainwood attempts to pull Piper to safety but misses grabbing onto the panicking girl. [Room 2]
@Ileen Knight casts immobulus at a rat but critically failed, the spell backfired onto her. She is presently bound for 2 more rounds. She fell [-50] [550/600 health remaining][/b] Is presently bound for 2 rounds. [Room 2]
@Astrea Soleil Neptune never posted. [Room 2]
@Dan Palmer never posted. [Room 4]
@Sarah Lightwood never posted. [Room 2]

Room 3
@Henry Knight would maintain Lumos Maxima (was a Critical Success when cast). Moved to the hall of 6a/b. [Room 6a/b]
@Bridget Collins attempting to lead Professor Jensen to Room 3. [535 health remaining] [Room 3]
@Starlee Kennedy trapped at the bottom of a well. Broken leg, shoulder and pelvis. Failed death saving throw x2. Unconscious. 0/400 health [Room 3]
@Santario Martin Unconscious at the bottom of a well. Failed death saving throw x2 due to critical failure. 0/600 health [Room 3]
@Cassandra Ironwoods never posted. [Room 3]
@Illowy Magnard never posted. [Room 3]
@Bridget Collins [Room 3]
@Hjørdis Jensen Maintained Lumos Maxima. Finds route to the bottom of the well as instructed on a slip of paper. [Room 3]

Room 4
@Piper Clark never posted. There are a total of 1 rat in the room with her. Can hear scratching on the other side of the door. [135/600 Health remains] [Room 4]
@Mathias Pride attempted to bait the rats with jerky, both rats would attack. He would snap the neck of one of the two rats. There are a total of 1 rat in the room with him. Can hear scratching on the other side of the door. [Room 4]

Room 5A
@Selim Faust chloramine gas is filling the room, Selim is taking exponentially more damage (50 first round, 100 this round)! [-100] 300/500 health remaining. [Room 5A]

Room 6B
@Kaegen Deathmote Never posted. He is poorly covered himself with dust and cobwebs. The dirtiest of boys. He has not visualized Henry.[Room 6b]
@Henry Knight would maintain Lumos Maxima (was a Critical Success when cast). Moved from Room 3 to the hall of 6a/b. [Room 6a/b]

Room 10
@Evelynn Decipio left room 10 and went to room 11. [Room 11]
@Flash Holwood moved through Room 10 and moved to Room 12. He would later return after shutting the door to Room 12 and urging Koko out. [Room 10]
@Koko Riddle moved from Room 12 to Room 10. She is maintaining Lumos. She is still being attacked by the darkness. *The darkness is now in Room 10* *Cursed* [-100] 1100/1500 health [Room 10]

Room 11
@Alexander Varellion maintains Lumos. [-100] Mouth has been sewn closed, he cannot speak (or incant) 200/700 health remaining. [Room 11][/b]
@Evelynn Decipio enters room 11. Attempted to cast Evelynn casts Wingardium Leviosa on a living doll - miss. She was attacked by a living doll but the doll missed. [Room 11]

Room 12
@Koko Riddle moved to Room 12. She has been attacked by the darkness in spite of having Lumos on. *Cursed* [-100] 1100/1500 health The darkness came with her into Room 12 and continues to attack. She would run out of Room 12 and return to Room (Hall) 10. [Room 10]
@Flash Holmwood Would shut the door to Room 12. Would remain/return to Room 10. Would witness Koko suffer. [Room 12]

Mentioning: @Selim Faust
Interacting: @Percival Rainwood, @Ileen Knight, @Mathias Pride, anyone else in Room 2/4 who can hear her

A new wave of panic overtook Piper. Vermin were somehow still biting her, although a slight bonus was that she was no longer on fire. More people had shown up, a blur of action, and two had destroyed one of the furry bastards in a flurry of spells. One had snapped a rat's neck. People were talking to her, shouting something, but their voices were muddled, like incoherent whispers swimming through the air. The kind older girl's second spell had backfired miserably, making herself fall in an immobilized state.

There was something else, as well. The boy Piper had followed, who had left her for dead. He had disappeared, but now pounding was in earshot, suddenly snapping Piper out of it. Pounding on the door. A sickening, frantic scratching sound.

If possible, Piper's heart fell a mile underground, senses sharpened. That boy was trapped. Alone. With something that could be even worse than the rats.

The Slytherin first year was willing to go quite far for revenge - what the boy had done was unforgivable - but even she wouldn't sink so low as to let someone die. Yet.

Piper was vaguely aware of someone - a boy - attempting to drag her into the next room, but she yanked her wrist free. She had to tell them, despite being barely able to stand at this point. "There's a boy in there!" she shouted, much louder than intended. "I- I followed him and...and he left me here with the rats. He's trapped, he needs help!" Her voice rose into near hysterics at the end. Face pale, the first year then shakily stumbled into the next room. Were they too late? In her state, there was nothing she could do. And there was no way she was going back with that rat.

If only she had moved sooner; but an unbelievable state of mind had completely taken the reins, holding Piper hostage against her will. She was unable to process or do anything, including defend herself. There was still one rat left in the next room, but there were many other people and only one of Piper. Surely the last rat was good as dead. What mattered was getting that idiot boy out of the room.

Piper found herself muttering a jumble of words, her subconscious attempting to give helpful tips to the others. "Rats don't stop....no fire...open next door, save him...dark in there-"

More frantic shouts and talking seemed distant in the adjacent rooms and corridors. More trouble around the dungeons, Piper assumed.

Suddenly, the room felt kind of spinny, and the exhausted first-year leaned against the wall, closing her eyes for a second. She desperately wanted to sit, bring relief to her shredded ankles, but she knew that once she was down she wouldn't be able to get up. Wishing she were able to process anything that had just happened or was happening, even feel her usual spark of indignance, Piper just focused on what she must look like. Probably white-faced. She felt the tear stains on her cheeks. Opening her eyes, it was apparent that her hands were shaking uncontrollably. All she could do was clasp them tightly together. Breathe, one, two, three... her thoughts went repetitively.

In just one moment she would be able to see whatever was happening, help with any part of the dungeon that wasn't here, but right now Piper would have to be satisfied with the warning she gave.

One, two, three, one...

ACTION: Move to room 2, just outside room 4, try to recover from uncontrollable panic, tell others where Selim is
LOCATION: Room 2
STATS: || Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 5 | Strength: 4 | Wisdom: 8 | ArcPower: 6 | Accuracy: 6 ||
ABILITY: Perfectionist
POST TRACKER: X | X | X | X | X | X

Interacting: @Bridget Collins
Mentioning: @Cassandra Ironwoods | Santario Martin | Starlee Kennedy
Languages: _{English | French | Italian | Arabic | Russian}
Outfit

Mention: Piper Clark, Percival Rainwood, Ileen Knight and Selim Faust

There was only one place to go from here. The filth of the vermin he had murdered lingering still in his hand. He needed to move onward, not for the sake of sating curiosity but rather to free the frenzied beast on the other side of the door. The rat, hopefully distracted by the jerky that he would not bother to retrieve. Animals acted on instinct, there was no instinct that would compel a rat to attack less hunger. They would cannibalize their own if hungry enough, there would be no den that they intruded upon nor would there be anything a rat would find worthy of guarding.

"Selim?" Mathias would call out likely uselessly as he approached the door. Some sort of confirmation that it was a human on the other side and not some rabid beast would be preferable. He would hear a THUD, Percival's girlfriend had hit the stone floor hard. He would have no idea why, the events of the duo were behind him and he dared not look back for fear of what might lay ahead.

There was a sense of anxious electricity that ran through his fingertips causing him to shake. What was this sensation? This terrible quavering he felt deep within that left him nauseated but flushed. Was this fear or excitement? He was not entirely certain which, but in the moment he had decided to define this as exhilaration.

"Opening a door!" He bellowed, the only warning he would give Miss Clark who had hopefully vacated the room unless she felt the dire need to set herself on fire again or inflict more rats upon her person. He would grip the doorknob with both hands and heave the door open with the consummate power of his lanky limbs (2 strength).

He did not know that beyond the door was deadly chloramine gas but he suspected that Selim was there because he was unaccounted for. His dormmates were assholes but he hardly expected them to let one of their own run off on their own. He should not have expected better of them of course, they did not even want him to get Miss Jensen despite the fact that the setting screamed TRAP. That being why he felt compelled to screw with Flash, why he now had the need to recover the idiot (Selim). The rest of his roommates had scattered like roaches into the depths of the dungeons, he wondered if any of them would survive. He was hardly a hero but Faust was of greater use living than he was dead even if he was not very useful at all.

Action: Opening Door to 5A.

Selim Text Color: #4d0f25
Aku Text Color: #614f6d

"My death has not yet quite arrived, but it is near and inevitable, as the night follows the day." - George Washington

Paranoia was a dangerous thing. It was dangerous because it drove him here. That girl had followed him, there had been no explanation as to why she had, so he had assumed the worse, it was always safer to assume the worse. Rarely was assuming the worst a band thing beyond the stress it could possibly build, sadly, this was one of those rare times.

Maybe if his mind wasn't constantly hazy with exhaustion on paranoia, maybe then logic would've told him that it was stupid to assume that girl was trying to kill or capture him. She had just been a preteen, another kid amongst his wide range of peers, what would she gain from either? What would he gain from running from her, from splitting off from the group in such a dangerous place?

But his logic was dead, buried under the stress on his mind and body until all that was left was fear and lethargy. Until all that was left were muscles and organs pleading for proper rest, and a mind swirling with images and sounds that weren't there.

It was too late to regret, he couldn't even regret in the midst of the self-instigated torture he was living through. His mind was too busy flaring red lights and alarm bells that accomplished nothing but panic, drowning out any possibility of remaining calm and thinking his way out fo the situation.

What a pointless response system animals had; can't breathe? Panic and adrenaline should fix that! Preditor in front of you? Panic and adrenaline. When has panic ever helped a situation?

He couldn't stop it though.

Lungs burning, throat tightening, head pounding, eyes ablaze with pain. Something acidic was crawling up his constricted throat, another useless defence mechanism. Nothing much came out of his stomach though, his food intake was low, so all that came of it was stomach acid and water. Of course, it made the pain flare up all the more due to the acid cruising through his already-inflamed throat.

He coughed harshly afterwards, sharp pain in his abdomen rising up thanks to emptying his already empty stomach.

Futility, he continued to wheeze, scratching on the door becoming weaker as his vision swayed and contorted, strength sapped from his weak limbs. eventually, it came to a stop as he completely sunk to the floor, collapsing onto his side.

He was still painfully aware of what was happening, but he had already been weak from his constant exhaustion, his stamina was abysmal as a result. Who knew what effects this gas-filled chamber would have on such a weakened boy? Even as the chemicals burnt away the protective mucose of his respiratory tract and mouth, a coughing fit raked his frame, causing it to shudder until his body resigned to the shallow wheezing it had taken up. Occasionally deep breaths of the poisonous air were taken, for the lungs could only keep up that irregular pattern for so long before their ingrained instinct of even breathing took over once more. It took concentration as well to keep in line, and Selim didn't have much of that.

Faintly, beyond the haze, he could hear it though, someone was there, they were trying to get to him. He might survive this, maybe-

'But doesn't that mean the gas will be released into the next rooms?'

Not good, but at least there was more space for it to diffuse with the air, a lower concentration is better than what he was dealing with in such a cramped space.

His vision flickered as he continued his rattling, whistling breaths. Harshly he coughed, chest aching with the strain. The boy curled into himself, covering his mouth with his hands in a pointless effort to prevent more poison from entering him. Flacks of red had joined the lack of phlegm, but he couldn't notice it in the darkness amidst the hazy drift of lacking oxygen. The air had practically been completely displaced, there was barely anything left. At this rate it was a question of whether he'd perish from suffocation or from the poison slowly circulating through him.

Faintly he could hear a voice on the other side of the door, one he didn't recognize at that moment fr obvious reasons. Everything sounded muffled, all he could hear was the ailed blood pumping rashly through his body.

Someone was trying to get him out.

He shifted weakly, facing the door and watching it with swimming vision. Could they open it? Was it locked? Too heavy? Was he fated to suffer through his life a little longer? Or would he perish alone, slowly being consumed by toxic air?

Either way, this would be a defining moment in his life, he'd either die, or gain a new burden to bare as he walked the path he had chosen to live on.

Flash was glad that at the very least, Miss Koko wasn't frozen in fear. The moment he was in had striking similarities to his first year, when the first attack happened. He could hardly fathom how naïve he had been then, even though technically it wasn't all that long ago. Spiders had come in through the door of the Slytherin common room, and it erupted into chaos until one student cast a bright light. It wasn't a stretch to think they must have come from somewhere in the dungeons, but why were they getting bigger, why were they resisting light now?

Back then, Opeila had been stuck motionless in fear and Flash tried to hold onto her and remove her from the danger. It hadn't worked. She became cursed, and he was spared. Just like now. As Koko ran through the door, all of Flash's focus was put into closing the door behind her. There was a panic in his gut that made failing not an option. He regretted to see that not only had Koko been attacked, but the creature remained attached to her clothing, gripping on like a damned tick. When Flash first turned to see it, a new wave of horror and fear washed over him, so much so that he felt a bit light-headed, like he'd rather just faint than continue to struggle.

He was stronger than that though, at least physically. So instead, he would shakily fumble for the wand at his side, concealed in a harness under his clothing as always. Flash had only just begun to really work on his spellcasting this year, and as preparation would have it, this was the exact reason why. During that last episode, he tried attacking the spiders physically, which seemed to work to some degree, but it was safer to keep his distance. That was, if he could keep his wand still enough to make the right movement, and steady his voice enough to say the proper incantation.

He wouldn't waste any more words on Koko for the moment, nor scream for help from where Evelynn and Varellion had gone down the other path of the fork. No time. Nothing was more important than extinguishing this darkness from existence. Even if the light did not make it vanish, surely it still got hurt, could still be defeated like the others. At least with the door closed, there would be no reinforcements. Hopefully.

"Flipendo!" A simple spell, meant to push things away. An attempt to get it detached.