The Drowned Palace Group 8

date 04/10/25

word count 474

outfit ⁺₊ ☀︎ ⁺₊

speech #8C2626

mentions @Rosaline Everhart @Leo Noxley @Althea Valeden @Frederick Buckley

notes xxx

Her sparks turned out to be brighter than even she had expected, managing to startle everyone around her. Perhaps someone else might have felt sheepish or embarrassed, but Lucille could only marvel at how she had cast a spell in a real world situation for the first time. This wasn't the controlled environment of a classroom, with a professor watching and correcting her; nor was it her dorm room, with it's calm, comfortable atmosphere that truly pushed one to focus. No, she had managed to cast a spell when her eyes had squeezed shut in fear, and, more than anything, that fact made her braver, a sense of pride beginning to swell in her.

She giggled at everyone's reactions and jokes to her excessive display. It might not have helped them read the algae, but it had certainly calmed her fears and started the beginnings of conversation in their group. She now realized that she knew almost everyone here, except the older girl, Althea. Thankfully, even she had found the situation humorous rather than an annoyance, and her comment almost made Lucille flush with pride.

As the last sparks faded, though, Lucille let her eyes scan the illuminated room, gradually dissipating from the scarlet shade she had brought, back to the eerie green it had been before. When her eyes reached the door they had entered from, she noticed how it seemed almost faded, camouflaging itself into the wall, perhaps? "The door," she said, pointing. She made her way towards it, but it seemed to have hidden itself in the wall, and as the light dulled once again, she realized she could only see it if she focused. "Perhaps there's something else camouflaging itself here?" she said softly, beginning to walk slow circles around the room, eyes peeled for something else that might be hiding away from them. At Frederick's comment, she listened to the haunting voice that had started up again, this time focusing on what it was saying. A rhyme, and then it seemed to stop abruptly. She had the strong sense that it had left the rhyme unfinished, as if pausing to wait for something. Then, it started its song from the beginning, its tone unchanging. It was like a broken record player, that just couldn't play the whole song.

"I think it's waiting for us to finish it. And that just might be our response," she said, pointing to the algae that Althea was attempting to cast a spell on. Once again, the song stopped and paused, and Lucille felt the compelling urge to speak. For someone like her, breaking the silence was a habit, and it was that feeling more than anything that told her that the song wished for a reply. Shifting her focus back to the room, she was squinting now, trying her hardest to find something.

inventory burn healing paste bruise removal paste

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

date	place	tags	wc	speech
04/10/25	The Drowned Palace	@Lucille Rosenhart@Leo Noxley @Althea Valeden@Frederick Buckley	488/200	#36563c

outfit: Gown, Hair, Necklace, Earrings, Shoes, Perfume

As other people came into the room, she greeted them one by one. There were Fred, Leo, Althea, and Lucille. Knowing her teammates were all here, she felt relieved and more eager to unravel this mystery. Still adjusting to the dimness of the entire room, she stood beside Althea and Fred, leaning in together to examine the pattern on the wall. Then Althea cast Lumos. The light came from her wand, lighting up the room. Rosaline thought it might help them decipher the words, yet the algae ceased their spread and even retreated back into the wall. Rosaline’s eyes widened. But she scarcely had time to think before the room filled with red sparks.

She turned back, wanting to see what had happened, yet was struck by the overly bright red light everywhere in the room. She exclaimed, “Oh, Merlin!” Her eyes felt a little sore, and she tried to blink, thinking she might get used to the light. Eventually, she couldn’t bear it and closed her eyes. It was too sudden, so she unconsciously covered her ears as well. Though she knew this was a red sparks charm, it reminded her of fireworks in the Muggle world, which produce a tremendous noise when launched.

Through her eyelids, she sensed the light gradually softening. She opened her eyes, and now she could see the whole room clearly. Her first reaction was to chuckle at the scene; she couldn’t help it. She must’ve looked ridiculous covering her ears when the charm wouldn’t make any sound. The effect of Lucille’s spell was amusing. Everyone seemed to loosen up more. Althea and Leo even made playful jokes about it. Yet when she turned back to see the algae, it had completely shrunk. Her heart sank for a brief moment. Then she looked around, finding that Fred and Leo were searching the room. The light in the room was still useful, and she was glad that at least the lingering light still made their investigation easier.

Althea shared her next plan with everyone. Rosaline nodded, thinking it would be a great strategy. Rosaline knew the spell Althea mentioned was one she wouldn’t learn until a higher grade. It was truly a relief that they had her on the team. Otherwise, they might take more time to figure out all the puzzles. Frederick asked if they had heard the singing voice. Rosaline had noticed that when she entered the room earlier, but got distracted by the sparkling incident that later occurred. “Yeah, I hear the song too. And I agree with Lucille.”

As the lights in the room began to fade and everyone busied themselves with their tasks, she decided to try to read the words on the wall again. Maybe the algae would grow back, and she needed to see how Althea’s charm turned out. She went back to her position earlier and was ready – she hoped - to solve the puzzle.

Action: Read the message on the wall again.

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

By 哈哈魯

MOD POST - GROUP 8

Inventory:
1. Revive Potion
2. Wand

There is a saying that "all good things must come to an end." Althea could list the number of good things that happened to her at the current moment: Being landed with a pleasant group of first years for her post-escape from the lonely ballroom venue, being treated to a delectable and amusing show of 'fireworks' by one of the aforementioned first years — truly, Lucille's magical aptitude was truly a marvel —, and successfully blinding the charmed algae with the best Lumos she has ever cast to date. This led to the second part of the saying.

Althea had thought the first month upon her return to Hogwarts had successfully dampened the majority of her pride and indignation. She found herself standing corrected as the tip of her wand flickered with the beginnings of a Revelio charm, only for the wisps to crackle fruitlessly against the chestnut wood that weakly quivered at the aftermath of an incredibly obvious failure of a spell. The brunette spared every effort to keep an exasperated huff of laughter from wracking her frame. This was so embarrassing, it was actually hilarious...

Althea kept her back staunchly faced towards her team members as she lightly shook the hand gripping her wand and whacked it lightly against her thigh. She heard the members shuffling around to investigate the furniture and room itself, and she hoped the dim lighting spared her their attention. Regardless, while the years have changed and taken a lot from the witch, but there was one thing that time will only have a chance at claiming once the reaper takes her — Her irrational stubbornness. She had all the time in the world without anyone at the ball waiting, and if this obstacle took ten Revelio spells to reveal that message, she would use ten Revelio spells, or a strongly-worded trade offer. Preferably the former, because the latter could frankly never leave this room for her peace.

However, before that, Althea would have to appreciate the effort that said algae had put into offering their first clues. Even though her first casting of Revelio had failed, some algae seemed to have taken pity on them. She squinted slightly to read it, "and... search,...through." Frederick had mentioned the repetitive verse being sung, and Leo had already suggested the increasingly likely theory that the voice was awaiting a reply. Rosaline and Lucille's affirmation of Frederick and Leo's theory was quick to be confirmed by this meagre but helpful development. She turned around, gesturing towards the wall where a patch of the algae now swayed in three disjointed words, "We are definitely onto something about the voice and this wall of algae being a clue. The algae is hiding a message, and if we tell it to the voice, it might help us solve this." It is clear that they would require a lot more than just wit and appreciation of rhyme schemes if they wished to decipher this puzzle. This meant... casting again.

With a renewed determination, Althea took a subtle, deep draw of the cool air, readying her wand once more. Trying not to linger on the possibility of failure and the thought of actually needing to cast 10 of the same spell, she muttered and waved her wand, "Revelio."

Action: Casting revelio again to decipher the rest of the algae patterns

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

〚 •• ✎ •• 〛

| Date: October 04, 2025 | Location: The Drowned Palace | Word count: 379 |
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Fred scanned the room with a careful look, but nothing stood out, not a single clue that could help the group unravel the mystery. He scratched the back of his neck, coming to a stop. “I don’t think there’s anything scattered around here that could help us,” he said. “The trick is to make that algae show what’s written on the wall.”

The boy turned back toward the wall where the algae clung, most of it now shrivelled from the excessive brightness of Althea’s Lumos and Lucille’s fireworks. Despite being useless, those red sparks had definitely been the highlight of the game so far. Squinting, however, he managed to spot a few letters that had become clearer, revealing three spaced words: and, search, through.

“What?” Fred said louder than he meant to, as if trying to read in the dark not only made him blinder but also somewhat deafer. “This thing’s saying we have to look for something. Ha! What a surprise,” he said in a half-sarcastic tone, impatience beginning to stir in him, the boy was restless by nature, and standing still in a dark, stuffy room wasn’t exactly his favourite way to spend time. The things you do for the ones you are friends with.

While he was thinking about what to do next, Althea seemed to have already made up her mind. Fred noticed her preparing to cast another spell. Not wanting to distract her, he moved closer to Leo and, picking up the thread of thought he himself had started, turned his attention back to the deep, dragging voice humming the same eerie tune. “That beginning... Come seek us where the torches glow, within the castle, far below. Where shadows feasts and silence calls...” he repeated quickly under his breath. “Sounds like whatever we’re supposed to find is down in the castle dungeons.”

Then, before he could stop himself, he spoke up, directing his voice toward the dark corners of the room. “Who’s there? What do you want? Is this place a dungeon?” His words echoed faintly against the stone, hoping for an answer or a sign. Fred felt a bit ridiculous, talking to thin air, but at least the room had gone dim again, he could always pretend he’d been perfectly confident all along.

Action: Talking to the voice that keeps humming
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
| 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 |

date	place	tags	wc	speech
04/10/25	The Drowned Palace	@Lucille Rosenhart@Leo Noxley @Althea Valeden@Frederick Buckley	448/200	#36563c

outfit: Gown, Hair, Necklace, Earrings, Shoes, Perfume

Rosaline stared at the previously shrunk algae. It looked rather pitiful because the strongest red spark spell she had seen and the direct light on its front had destroyed its vitality. But the light dimmed after the power of the magic faded. She needed to adapt to the environment again. The earlier scene that had happened was too funny —Lucille’s grand fireworks show. She couldn’t help but smile, thinking about it. Being pulled back to reality by the sound of Althea casting the spell, she squinted her eyes, wanting to catch as many clues as possible. At the moment, she could hear Fred, Leo, and Lucille walking around. They examined the furniture and the door while the faint light still lingered.

Unfortunately, the spell didn’t work, yet it diminished the light from the Lumos, so the algae had a chance to grow. It was pretty resilient, still trying to extend, and successfully showed a few decipherable words. It had shown some words, but she could only read three; others were still not readable for now. "… and… search… through…" She murmured the fragmented sentence. It was unclear to them in the room what this meant. They could only guess. Althea had a theory that maybe the clue would be about the singing voice. Fred’s remark made her laugh lightly. She said, “I agree with Althea. I hope the algae will show the full sentence soon.” She paused a moment, thinking, then she said, “I think the voice might be trying to give us some clues, but I’m not sure what she wants to say.”

After the discussion, she could tell Althea was determined and about to cast another spell. Rosaline decided to let Althea focus, not wanting to distract her, so she walked to a corner in the room. The song had been sung by someone with a soft tone. She closed her eyes to sharpen her hearing, trying to listen carefully to what the lyrics were. Fred recited the lyrics in a low voice, which echoed in the room and became audible. “Come seek us where the torched glow, Within the castle, far below…” she sang it softly. It was almost like an invitation to them to seek the treasure. Figuring all the lyrics out, she said it silently at first. Maybe she could sing it back as a response, yet she didn’t know if this would work. She took a breath and opened her mouth. “Come seek us where the torches glow, Within the castle, far below. Where shadows feasts and silence calls, Not great, but lesser halls. Pearls and gold await inside, Treasure torn from those who died...” she sang melodically with a silvery voice.

Action: Sing the lyrics along with the humming voice.

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

By 哈哈魯

date 04/10/25

word count 370

outfit ⁺₊ ☀︎ ⁺₊

speech #8C2626

mentions @Rosaline Everhart @Leo Noxley @Althea Valeden @Frederick Buckley

notes xxx

The room was beginning to feel a little hopeless. Lucille's patrolling of the room proved to be fruitless; as did Fred and Leo's. It was beginning to feel as if the group would be stuck here for quite a while, with their progress almost minimal. Still, they had managed to uncover some of the words, the algae deciding to shift into place, like a friend slowly resolving a petty conflict. and... search... through. The words were far apart, so she guessed they didn't have the full story yet. Certainly, searching through the room had been ineffective, so that wasn't what the algae was trying to tell them.

Althea spoke, then Fred, then Rosaline, but all their voices seemed to blend together as a bewildered Lucille tried to piece together what little information she had. Fred began to recite the lyrics, while Rosa began to sing them, and their voices produced a strange harmony, but that just didn't feel like the right thing to do. No, what felt right to her was the algae that had finally extended an olive branch.

"I'm sorry for lighting you up," she said finally, gaze fixed on the algae. Perhaps this enchanted thing was sulking because of how Althea and Lucille had treated it? There was little embarrassment in her voice; it seemed talking to objects was a regular occurrence for her. "Can you show us some more words? I promise we won't scare you again." Her voice was gentle, as if she was coaxing it.

Apparently satisfied with her words, Lucille crouched down on the floor, resting her elbows on her knees and her chin in her hands, intently staring at the algae. She could see Althea preparing to cast another spell from the corner of her eye, but soon she seemed to fade into the background. Lucille kept her eyes locked on the algae, transfixed, unblinking, until her vision began to blur, the few words that she could see molding into each other. She was hoping resetting her perception of the algae might help her discover a few more words. Then, when she couldn't keep her eyes open any longer, she blinked rapidly, letting them readjust and look at the algae once more.

inventory burn healing paste bruise removal paste

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

MOD POST - GROUP 8

Inventory:
1. Revive Potion
2. Wand

For a night planned for a ballroom event, Althea had not truly anticipated that her night would involve the sheer amount of determination that she felt as her mind steeled itself to cast Revelio for a second time. In the background, she heard Frederick conversing with the voice behind the wall and Rosaline singing the repeated verse with the mysterious voice. It added some pressure that these juniors of hers were mostly confident in her ability to succeed in casting this. Narrowing her attention to the wall, she steadied her hand and straightened her posture. A practiced flick of a wand drawn upon from pure muscle memory, and a well-enunciated “revelio” left her lips — Althea glanced up at that wall of algae. For a second, the stone walls remained unchanged in appearance, and her dominant hand twitched with resignation so as to raise her wand to cast the spell again. Before her hand could shift an inch, the algae crawled from the crevices within the stone wall in tandem. Her breath caught in amazement as it began stitching itself together before her eyes atop the cool stone surface, the charm working to allow the algae to culminate in a mosaic of patterns that read as words. A quiet sigh of relief escaped her.

Althea leaned closer and lowered her wand, squinting her eyes at the newly-formed words. One by one, she scanned over it and attempted to gather her thoughts.

She muttered under her breath, tucking her wand away into the inner fabric between her corset, “your…treasure…Fail…stays…do… the…The…and…search,... through…is…so…time…you.” Turning her head to briefly glance at the wall where blanks had been shown, it clicked. These words must be what they need to arrange in the order of the blanks. That's what the voice wants, she thought to herself.

Althea faced the others and began to recall, “I think we have to organise these words and slot them into the blanks according to how many letters there are in each blank, and one blank will represent one word. The voice must want us to reply with what we come up with.” She gestured to the algae that had finally yielded to their efforts.

“Treasure is the only seven-letter word. Through is a seven-letter word. Search is a six-letter word. Stays is a five-letter word. Your, fail, and time are four-letter words. The rest are either three or two-letter words…” Althea found herself trailing off as she reached no conclusion in her mind. She had never been one for abstract concepts and puzzles. Creativity is a skill she truly envied, especially at a time such as this.

“I’m terrible at these puzzles, so you all will have to bail us out from here,” She tried to crack a joke to brighten the mood. It wouldn’t be good to let the team be demoralised before they made it out, after all.

Action: Reciting the words revealed, and realising the key to finding the solution to the puzzle

date 04/10/25

word count 341

outfit ⁺₊ ☀︎ ⁺₊

speech #8C2626

mentions @Rosaline Everhart @Leo Noxley @Althea Valeden @Frederick Buckley

notes xxx

The algae allowed itself to exit through the cracks, likely because of Althea's spell, but Lucille found herself smiling nonetheless. That, however, was short-lived, as it began to twist this way and that, until it formed strange, scrambled words, daring them to find the solution. Lucille's brows knit together, a newfound focus in her eyes as she jumped up. Althea was right, confirming her suspicion from before. The algae gave the words for them to respond to the song, and that repetitive melody showed no sign of stopping. It was beginning to get on Lucille's nerves now, feeling more like a taunt than a chant.

Either way, she stepped forward, eyes now darting back and forth between the walls. It looked as if her mind was working a mile a minute, making all sorts of rapid connections in tandem. Theoretical subjects were what Lucille excelled in and, granted she wasn't at all street smart, her grades would often reflect her pride in being book smart.

She nodded as Althea spoke, finally speaking. "That means treasure goes there, and through goes there. We have two the's and one of them is capitalized, meaning they fit into the three letter words, and the second sentence starts with The." Her words were haphazard, difficult to follow along, but Lucille pointed helpfully along with everything she said. "That likely makes the beginning of that second part 'The treasure stays,"" she announced proudly, taking a step back, hands on her hips, and beaming at her groupmates, as if looking for approval.

Once she was sure everyone had grasped what she'd tried to say, she refocused herself, now a bit less frantic, feeling as if she had finally done something helpful here, no longer feeling pressured to succeed and do more. Instead, she looked at their reactions to see if someone might correct her, although she was quite confident in her educated guess. But, of course, with a senior in the room, and a quite composed Ravenclaw, one could never really claim to be correct, could they?

Lucille's contribution to the puzzle
____ the ______, ____ ____ __ through,
The treasure stays—___ __ __ ___.

inventory burn healing paste bruise removal paste

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