The Drowned Palace Group 8

Inventory:
1. Revive Potion
2. Wand

The journey from the Autumn Ball’s main venue to the escape room was more tedious than Althea has expected. Although she had left the dining area — which she found out was named the Lost Pearl — to chase after an answer to the mystery of the card, she had then found herself at what she presumed to be the ball’s dance floor. This was named another unique name, and was called “Weeping Shores”, which she had explored and wandered around for another half an hour or so in search for further clues. After much awkward wandering and searching, she finally gathered enough information to be led to what she believed to be the Hogwarts Small Hall. She was then led on another tangent when she found herself signing up for an ‘escape room’.

Althea had never been more glad that her dress was relatively light compared to some of her other peers and their impressive gowns when she realised what her night would entail. She had swept her hair up with a hairpin earlier during her adventure to find this place, and decided that her genetics truly blessed her with a body that was not prone to excess sweating when she was led further down the halls.

Deeper within, Althea found herself surrounded by a handful of students who had likely found themselves drawn to adventure rather than the glimmering landscapes of the ball. She walked down the hallway and found that at the end, it diverged into a complicated crossroad leading to smaller rooms. Each room was sealed by a door, and at a glance, it seemed as if every room was numbered. Althea’s mind drifted back to the whiteboard at the entrance. Her name had been posted there alongside a few others, and they were sorted by number. What was hers again… Ah, yes, 8, she recalled. For the thrill of it, she went to gently push and pull a random door near the room for 8. It was as if it were stuck, and she concluded it must be charmed.

Althea sighed, walking to her designated room and knocking three times before trying to enter — a habit from her maternal side. This time, the door hinges made a soft squeak as it opened under her hand. It was ridiculously dark within, and Althea instinctively whispered an apology for intruding before entering completely. There was not yet anyone in the room, and beyond the doorway, there was a strange green glow cast upon the room. It helped her eyes adjust to see what appeared to be furniture or some sort of object in the room, and she tried her best to mind her step as she walked towards the faintly-glowing stone walls. The wall was splattered with some sort of plant. Algae, perhaps, from the thin green sheet of the plant that is reminiscent of what she’s seen of it on the Great Lake.

Althea squinted at it. Her eyes focused along the curves and edges, tracing what appeared to be… words? She thought it was rather hopeless to squint at something in the dark no matter how good her eyesight was, but she resolved to come back to it as she turned to another wall with the strange algae patterns. This time, the arrangements were reminiscent of blanks, not unlike her homework assignments. In between each blank, it seemed there was a punctuation mark. Ah — it was a sort of word puzzle.

Suddenly, a low hum began to fill the room. It grew a tad louder as she leaned into it, and she realised it was a song. Instantly, a strange drowsiness overtook her, and Althea pinched her arm to stay grounded. The words floated and surrounded her with their beautiful tone, singing of hidden treasures and a hidden location, low and ethereal in its sound. Was a mer behind this song? It was alluring as one, that's for certain. Though, she pondered if that's possible in such a dry location. Was that even possible…? The song abruptly ended. The silence felt almost heavy with the way it vanished the fading melody. The silence dragged, and Althea waited — Then a sigh came, and another round of song began. Gazing back at the blanks, she realised the mysterious voice must want something. From context, it must want the words, Althea deduced with a small clap.

Fishing out her wand from a hidden pocket in her corset, Althea walked over to the stone walls where the algae were plastered. She never quite forget the lesson where she learnt the wand-lighting charm. It had been one of her first successfully spells, so the lesson quite stuck. “It could potentially reveal magically-hidden things,” her professor had once told her class. Honestly, she really, really hoped the message weren’t hidden by the Illegibilus charm. If it was, well, at least Lumos would light up the place enough for her to recognise it.

Flicking her wand in a practiced motion, Althea carefully enunciated the spell, “Lumos.”

Action: Casting Lumos in order to decipher and read the message behind the algae patterns

⋅•⋅⊰∙∘☽༓☾∘∙⊱⋅•⋅

| Date: October 04, 2025 | Location: The Drowned Palace | Word count: 461 |
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Frederick was having the time of his life at the ball. It was the first big event he had ever attended at Hogwarts, except, of course, for the Sorting Ceremony. He was the kind of boy who thrived in lively places full of people and chatter, where he usually felt right at home.

As he moved around the crowd, cracking a joke here and there whenever he found the chance, Fred ran into a few of his first-year friends. Before long, they’d signed up for a little event within the event, something like a treasure hunt that would take place while the ball was still going on. Fred agreed to join them right away, his usual childish excitement bubbling up.

Their group was assigned the number eight, which, as Fred soon learned, matched one of the many doors in the area where the game would begin. Without hesitation, he took the lead and opened the door marked with their number. It shut behind him with a dull thud, leaving him in a dimly lit room, the only light coming from a faint, flickering green glow at the far end.

Once inside, Fred sensed, more than saw, that he wasn’t alone. His eyes hadn’t yet adjusted to the dark, and he moved forward cautiously. Thinking quickly, he guessed this had to be the girl who’d been assigned to his group, someone a few years older than him.

“Hello?” he ventured, patting the pocket of his robes in search of his wand while blinking a few times to make out her figure. As he stepped closer, the outlines of furniture and objects began to take shape under the dim green glow, but then, strangely, a wave of drowsiness washed over him. He found it hard to focus, his thoughts growing fuzzy as an eerie song echoed softly through the room, sung by voices from no clear source. Just as suddenly as it began, though, the sensation faded.

Fred snapped back to full awareness right as he noticed movement, the older girl, Althea, was examining one of the walls, now faintly visible under the ghostly light. It was covered in swaying algae that seemed to form a pattern.

“Hi!” he said again, more confidently this time, walking closer now that his eyes had adjusted to the dimness. “You must be Althea, right? I saw your name on our group list. I’m Frederick. Weird wall, huh?” By now he was standing almost beside her, talking non-stop, glancing between the girl and the wall as if hoping that by sheer persistence he might figure out what to do next. “Do you think there’s something written there?” he asked, squinting to read the markings just as the fourth-year raised her wand and began to cast a spell.

Action: Reading the message written in algae patterns
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| Stats: Sta-8 ⁞ Eva-6 ⁞ Str-4 ⁞ Wis-5 ⁞ Arc-4 ⁞ Acc-8 | Abilities: Evasive Maneuvers |
| Inventory: Antidote to Common Poisons and Protective gloves |

date	place	tags	wc	speech	outfits
04/10/25	The Drowned Palace		334/200	#36563c	xxx

Rosaline stepped into the place that was supposed to be the Small Hall, yet it looked totally different from what she remembered. It had been subdivided into numerous small rooms. Every door had a number on it. She guessed it must be related to the group list that she noticed near the entrance. She and Leo had dined at the Lost Pearl, an impressive boat, and then they decided to go to the treasure hunt game before dancing.

She found that she was in group eight with some friends she had signed up with; there were also two unfamiliar names. She always liked meeting new people by chance. She headed to the room with the number eight on its door and gently pushed it open. What greeted her was utter darkness. The Everhart girl merely blinked several times in vain and tried to make out what was inside. She sensed there were already some people inside, so she attempted to say hello, “Hello, is anyone there?” Her voice was soft.

Then she heard a familiar voice and an unfamiliar one. Gradually, she got used to the dim light in the room and saw two figures. “Hey, Frederick!” she greeted him and continued, “Hi, are you Althea? I think I saw your name on the group list. I’m Rosaline, nice to meet you.” After she finished her words, she realized that a song had been sung in the background all along. Furrowing her brows, she didn’t know where the song came from.

She saw them all studying something on the wall, and she approached them carefully, not wanting to stumble in the dark. It looked like some writing on the wall, which cast a faint green glow, yet it was too dim for her to decipher. She squinted, trying hard to read the pattern of the algae filaments. Althea seemed ready to cast a spell, and Frederick was trying to read the writing just as she was. This was going to be fun, she thought.

Action: Read the message on the wall.

inventory Wand Cure for Boils (1) Herbicide Potion(1)

stats stamina: 6 | evasion: 5 | strength: 5 wisdom: 8 | arcane Power: 7 |accuracy: 4 Lovely Creature

date 04/10/25

word count 430

outfit ⁺₊ ☀︎ ⁺₊

speech #8C2626

mentions @

notes xxx

She didn't know how she'd gotten roped into this. It had been a passing offer. Rosaline had asked if Lucille wanted to go to the escape room with her, and she'd agreed. Of course, that was before she knew the escape room was ocean themed. The Drowned Palace, it was called. It sounded intimidating, almost haunting. But Rosaline had been excited for it, and Lucille had been moved by her contagious enthusiasm. For anything else, they would perhaps have shared the same exuberance, but water was the only thing that seemed to dull the twinkling in Lucille's eyes.

Still, the Lost Pearl had been wonderful, and so she was full of hope for the Drowned Palace to follow the same trajectory. And so, when Lucille saw Rosaline go towards it, she was quick to follow.

She found her name listed in group eight, along with Rosaline's and Frederick. She raised her eyebrows a little, shoulders relaxing. That was a pleasant surprise. She didn't pay too much attention to the other names listed, although some were vaguely familiar. Instead, she quickly headed to the marked door, wanting to catch up.

She entered to the sound of voices. She recognized Rosaline and Frederick, but one was unfamiliar. It was dark, much darker than she'd like it to be, but it was comforting to know she wasn't alone. She didn't think she'd have composed herself had she been the first one in here.

Lucille did not wait for her eyes to adjust. In fact, her eyes felt like they'd given up on seeing, eyelids closing as a haunting voice seemed to try to lull her to sleep. Fear was an odd feeling for Lucille but she felt it now. The eerie voice sent shivers down her spine, and her eyelids squeezed shut as she shook her head vigorously, trying to get rid of that odd, sleepy sensation. Perhaps she would have thought it intriguing and fun had it not been for her innate distrust of the sea. All she could think of was the odd sea creatures that dwelled in the darkest depths, or Greek myths of sirens luring sailors to their doom.

She could only remember one thing now. A DADA lesson, where they were taught the sparks charms. As far as she recalled, the red sparks shone brightest, even if they were used to denote immediate danger. Of course, in her mind, she knew she was in no danger, but her raging heartbeat seemed to signify otherwise. Thoughts scattered and full of terrible things, she raised her wand and spoke. "Periculum."

inventory burn healing paste bruise removal paste

stats and abilities sta 7 eva 7 str 6 wis 5 arc 6 acc 4 calming presence

location: Drowned Palace Game

date: Oct. 4th, 2025

speaking: 0042A9

thinking: 80A7FF

The evening had been very enjoyable so far for the young Ravenclaw boy. After enjoying some food together at the Lost Pearl ship, Rosaline had suggested they go to join a treasure hunt game of sorts that was set up for the students to participate in. Leo wasn’t sure if he would enjoy it since it meant teaming up with others he probably didn’t know besides Rosa. Even though he had his reservations he went along with the plan simply to make Rosa happy, not wanting to disappoint his date for the ball of course. As they made their way to the event area they had signed up and were placed in groups, and just as he figured he only knew one of the other members in their group.

After they checked the whiteboard for what group they would be in, Leo let out a soft sigh as he followed closely behind Rosa making their way to their groups room, room number 8. Rosa had gone in first and Leo right after, immediately confused by the overwhelming darkness in the room causing them to not be able to see well. He patted his wand in his jacket pocket, making sure it was still tucked away in there just in case. As his eyes began to adjust a little he noticed the vague outlines of the others in the room with them but stayed close to Rosa for now. “Hi Frederick,” he gave the other boy a nod, although who knows if he could tell in the dim lighting, and turned to the others in the room. “Hello, I’m Leo, nice to meet you all.” He raised his hand slightly to offer a small wave to the other group members in the room before recognizing the one girl that was in the group from the boat ride on the first day. He hadn’t said much during that boat ride to the others so he wasn’t sure if the girl, who he actively was trying to remember the name of, would recognize him.

With the initial introductions out of the way, Leo went to get a better look around the room. There seemed to be some furniture spread throughout the room as well as a green glow coming from the wall. Leo moved closer to get a closer look and noticed it was some sort of algae on the walls. He wasn’t sure what but something about the algae had his attention and he figured it had to be there for a reason. Backing up slightly from the wall he continued to looked over the wall to see if he could figure out what the algae markings on the walls meant and if it would help them in any way with their treasure hunt. “I think these markings on the wall in this glowing algae must mean something..” He said kind of softly, unsure if anyone heard him or not. After he said that, he heard a soft voice singing a song, stopping for a little while before hearing a sigh and the song starting again.

MOD POST - GROUP 8

Note: I am aware this is a bit early given that the thread opened on Tuesday and I apologize for that, but this was done as to then keep on track with the every Saturday mod post schedule as much as possible. (as during the week it is less likely I'll be able to get the mod posts done)

Inventory:
1. Revive Potion
2. Wand

The sudden influx of younger students in the room with Althea had initially startled her as she reached to cast Lumos. She had admittedly forgotten that this escape room was a group activity in her engrossed focus on the intangible algae patterns, until a boy's cheerful greeting echoed in the dimly-lit room. Frederick, she quickly learnt from the blonde boy's energetic chatter. She felt strangely out of place as more well-dressed students shuffled into the room to join Frederick, seemingly already friendly and familiar with one another from their easy greetings. She picked up some names: Rosaline, Lucille, Leo. Their remembering of her name shifted something in her, something unfamiliar. It has been a long time since someone other than family called her name. She turned away to focus on casting her charm, filing away the fuzzy memories of the group of friends that she spent her first ball event with.

There was a brief gasp of relief when light pooled at the tip of her hand. She had not casted magic in a very long time, and her practice since she returned seemed to have paid off. Althea quickly glanced up to check on the algae patterns — Crap. It was as if she had overturned a stone on a dirt path and unearthed an ant hive. The swift scattering of the writhing algae made her flick her wand towards the ground, and she tried to warn the rest of the team. "Wait, don't cast anything bri—!" She barely ducked her face away as a turbulent wave of red sparks erupted behind her from the wand of the petite brunette girl behind her. The flash of bright vermillion painted the room in a vibrant shade vastly different from its previous dim green, reminiscent of an incredibly alarming fireworks display at a Muggle festival. If there was any tension in her earlier, it immediately bled out of her from this display of magical splendor that was intended for anything but. In fact, Althea was pretty certain that this was the sparks spell for emergencies, and it made the situation more amusing than it needed to be.

Just as quickly as it came to life, the sparks slowly began to shrink back in the direction that the girl's wand was pointed at, and Althea had to snap out of her bewildered stupor to realise what she wanted to say earlier. If the algae had been writhing at her lumos, Althea was certain that it was cremated now from the way almost all of the algae had slipped back deep into the cracks of the stone walls. She quickly gestured for the girl — Lucille, she thought — with a gentle wave of her hand to lower the wand for the safety of both the algae and themselves. The corners of her lips quivered with the impulse to laugh as she tried to push down the shocked bewilderment at the brilliant show of whimsical sparks from Lucille earlier. "Goodness, does Hogwarts feed you special vitamins? Even aurors would be jealous of a show like that." Althea had never been the funny one. Instead of trying to salvage it, she tried to put herself physically between the lingering red sparks, her Lumos, and the hidden algae on the wall.

Properly facing the group now, Althea listened and pondered the group's theories. She found herself nodding at Frederick's passing comment and Leo's guess about the algae, "That's probably right. The algae looks charmed to actively hide something, and the voice probably wants whatever that patch of algae is hiding." She wrapped her hand around the tip of the wand with the newfound information, her mind flicking through all of her charms lessons and curriculum thus far. She went in circles, attempting to convince herself that this game would not call for the charm that she was thinking of. She tried to do another recall, and the same conclusion made her sigh outwardly.

Althea's gaze swept over the group. These students didn't seem older than twelve. The solution her mind landed on was something she barely managed to learn in her second year, something she spent weeks to properly cast. It has been at least 4-5 years since then, and she has had no use for it until now. She was not ready to fail in front of underclassmen in some escape room of all things, but utility takes priority over pride.

Althea made one final check that the sparks had calmed from their beautiful, fleeting existence, before nodding towards the wall, "I think the charm they used for this is something similar to Illegibilus. I'll try to cast Revelio, and hopefully all of us have eaten enough dinner to decipher whatever comes out." Turning back towards the wall, Althea willed herself to steel her focus upon the stone wall and not the possibility of failure. Simple process: Snuff out lumos, cast revelio, read the message, she repeated to herself. The brunette waved her wand in a pattern that only muscle memory could draw upon and carefully enunciated towards the wall of disappearing algae, "Revelio."

Action: Casting revelio to decipher the algae patterns (+ extinguishing Lumos as a result)

Interactions: @Leo Noxley.@Frederick Buckley,@Lucille Rosenhart,@Lucille Everhart

location: Drowned Palace Game

date: Oct. 4th, 2025

speaking: 0042A9

thinking: 80A7FF

As Leo looked at the wall, he heard one of the other member’s of his group casting a spell, the girl Althea. She went to perform the Lumos charm and lit up the room. For a moment Leo was relieved, she seemed older than the rest of them so she probably had more charms in her repertoire than the rest of them did. That relief however was short lived when he saw the algae on the wall start to disappear with the light as it shone on it. He heard the girl start to say something but was cut off by the bright green fireworks display that Lucille had set off in the room. Leo was startled by the noise and instinctively went and ducked down to not get hit by the sparks that were flying from her wand. After the initial shock of the sparks, Leo was truly impressed by the light display that was lighting up the room, however the algae hid away even more now.

Althea was the first to speak again to Lucille, making a joke about her spell that seemed to lighten the mood of the room. “I would’ve expected a fireworks display out over the lake for the end of the ball or something, not in here.” He joked along with her but offering a friendly smile to Lucille. They hadn’t gotten anywhere with the room at this point so as they started working on a new plan, Leo quietly looked around to see if there was anything worth noting in the room by the furniture and things before they would go back into the darkness.

While Leo looked high and low around the room for any clues, Althea announced she would try to cast Revelio to see if it would show what the message the algae had. He turned back to the group and nodded, “That sounds good,” he said softly before leaning against a chair and watching the older girl prepare to cast it. Leo had felt somewhat useless in this little game although it was definitely a nice inspiration to study harder so he could learn more spells for the future in case he would need them ever.

〚 •• ✎ •• 〛

| Date: October 04, 2025 | Location: The Drowned Palace | Word count: 312 |
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Fred turned instinctively when he heard the faint creak of the door and the familiar voices echoing through the dim room. He couldn’t make out much beyond silhouettes and shifting shapes, but he recognized Rosaline, Leo, and Lucille by their voices. They all seemed to move closer to the center of the room, and he took a step forward too, still trying to make sense of what the glowing algae on the wall were saying.

Then, a bright flash lit up behind him: Althea’s Lumos. Reflexively, he turned, blinking several times to adjust to the sudden glare. He didn’t notice the algae shrinking back, because the next moment, he was distracted by the red sparks ricocheting across the room as Lucille tried to help.

“Merlin’s beard!” he muttered, ducking quickly as one spark flew dangerously close to his hair. The brief chaos drew a laugh from him, even as he dodged another stubborn spark. Still, he used the moment of light to take in as much as he could, every piece of furniture, every object in sight. He tried to fix the layout of the place in his mind, sensing the brightness wouldn’t last long.

When the sparks faded, Fred straightened up, taking a deep breath. Silence spread through the room again, broken only by the distant sound of a voice, singing. Deep down, something told him they should listen more closely to what the song was saying. He exchanged a quick glance with the others and nodded in agreement, deciding to let the older student take the lead.

Unable to stay still, he walked a few steps, almost in circles, trying to think of what else he could do to help. Practically thinking out loud, not addressing anyone in particular, he stopped pacing. “You’re hearing that song too, right? It sounds like it keeps repeating the same line over and over.”

Action: Trying to look for clues near the furniture
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| Stats: Sta-8 ⁞ Eva-6 ⁞ Str-4 ⁞ Wis-5 ⁞ Arc-4 ⁞ Acc-8 | Abilities: Evasive Maneuvers |
| Inventory: Wand, Antidote to Common Poisons and Protective gloves |