The Drowned Palace Group 1

MOD POST - GROUP 1

THE DROWNED PALACE

04/10/25

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Nichts. Nothing. A despicable word in more scenarios than not. Sharp, flat intonation, spoken with a small burst of air. Rafael despised its meaning. It was a dissonance towards knowledge, a void within theory, a pincer upon one’s tongue. As one might expect, the fatality of ‘nothing’ is less damaging than being the receiving party. Kraus was not accustomed to being the recipient.

Thus, the moment he turned back towards the walls – expecting revelation, only to be met with imminent retreat – Rafael’s jaw locked in wordless disdain. The silence that followed pressed against him, heavy and hollow, leaving a faint bitterness in his mouth.

Nothing.

The taste of futility settled on his tongue. Sharp and metallic, an unpleasant mixture of copper, salt, and the sting of embarrassment veiled as indifference. He inhaled quietly through his nose as anticipation curdled into dismay. He and candle boy watched as the green light ebbed away, the words swallowed by the wall as though they had never existed. The absence struck him harder than any spell might have — not pain, but the dull ache of promise unfulfilled.

He had half-expected brilliance, the sort of theatrical spectacle Hogwarts seemed so enamoured with. Instead, there was silence. For all his composure, something within him recoiled at the futility of it. The card, still warm in his hand, suddenly felt trivial. Hoffnung war töricht Hope was foolish.

“Hey you!” Rafael stiffened slightly and flicked his gaze away from the almost-unadorned wall towards candle boy. Hey you? The young Kraus, in turn, said little as he watched the half breed call him closer. Before he had a chance to utter a curt reply, an introduction to his name – Rafael Kraus – and avoid further prompts of uncultured mannerisms, a boy with unnaturally cobalt hair brushed past him and subtly took over the role of searching.

Without much but a dismissive keek towards blue-haired, he strode over to candle boy and held the card back to the candle. He was right. The light had, indeed, marked the card in a shimmering amber sheen. Rafael held it under the light a little longer.

As the candle boy suggested the cessation of wands from others, Rafael’s gaze drew towards the wall, once again algae-blemished. Nothing morphed to something, and he stared as the plants seemed to writhe in confusion, phasing between garbled letters, till the faded markings of seven words stood before the two.

Rafael scanned the words, then glanced at the other wall with the strange patterns, then back. The words seemed to have been placed haphazardly, their positions mismatched and their lengths on the other wall contradicting what they represented. Another unsettling detail was the realisation that half of the words had simply ceased to exist. Und dennoch… And yet…

“Candle boy is right,” He spoke suddenly, swivelling towards the others. “Revoke your Lumos. The algae are fighting against it. We still need the next seven words.” Rafael gave the half breed a curt nod. Another revelio, and this one had to be a success, for the voices of melody had gotten harsher and caused the hand not holding the card to the light to twitch. “This requires the coordinated efforts of all of us.” Rafael pointed towards the lines on the other wall, then towards the words. “Begin by matching the shortest words (‘is’ and ‘so’, in this instance) to the shorter lines. This would narrow the words that we might still need. Should the revelio fail…” He cast a look towards candle boy, “...we would have to go with our calculated guesses.”

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PERFECTIONIST STATISTICALLY RELEVANT (+2ACC)

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Stamina: 7 ✦ Evasion: 10 ✦ Strength: 1 Wisdom: 9 ✦ ArcPower: 5 ✦ Accuracy: 8(10)

Action: Examining the card under candle light | Interacting: @Harvey Barrows, @Hikari Fujimoto, @Akari Kabukimono, @Jessamine Hemlock, @Costanza Jewelweed

Harvey was the kind of boy that took things like this seriously. Life had thrown him a puzzle and in a group setting that also came with a bit of competition. Who didn't want to be one to offer the correct answer first? It often came with a rush of satisfaction when he could best his peers, but as he looked to this particular puzzle it was clear that he would need help from the others, even if he didn't like it.

The rush of adrenaline must have caused Harvey a temporary pause in his civil manners as he called out a "hey you" to the other boy. Burok would have had him by the ear for this lapse, but in the moment time seemed of the essence. However, as the boy approached, Harvey would let out a huff of disappointment as the card did indeed shimmer under the candle light, but revealed no further information. That was one potential clue out of the window and he did not enjoy being the one to draw attention to it.

At least things would turn around as Harvey successfully recast the revelio charm. When the spell took effect it was clear that they were onto something as some of the words began to form. His gaze would be drawn back to the other boy as he took the lead on offering instructions. "Harvey Barrows." The moniker of candle boy simply would not do. "Forgive my lack of manners just before. Got caught up in the moment." He spoke softly to the boy before raising the volume for the others. "Please, lower your wands if you will." Harvey would ask nicely first, but if they did not comply he would take matters into his own hands. "Nox."

Actions: Casting Nox on Jessamine Hemlock's wand if they do not extinguish it themselves.
Stats: Stamina - 5 | Evasion - 6 | Strength - 5 | Wisdom - 7 | Arc Power - 6 | Accuracy - 6
Abilities: Extra Income | Gobbledegook | Perfectionist
Inventory: Wand, magical candle, wizard camera, locksmith's knife, hammer and nails

XXXThe algae didn't seem to like the light coming from his and another student's wands, shrinking away and becoming even harder to see. One of the Hogwarts students noted that the light must have been a mistake before casting Revelio. Akari frowned, quickly cancelling the spell. Ah, the room was initially quite dark. The algae must like that better. He was more disappointed that he couldn't keep his light on than the fact that the algae had retreated. Unfortunately, his Lumos still seemed to have interfered with the other boy's spell, as the algae only partially revealed themselves. But a few words were better than no words, so Akari stepped forward to examine them closer.

XXXA rather sharp-looking boy suddenly declared that 'candle boy' was right, which vaguely amused Akari. However, his next words didn't make a lot of sense to him. Is this very casual speech or very formal speech? All he understood was short words = short lines, which felt self explanatory. "Well, there are two short lines there," Akari said, pointing to the second-to-last two blanks in the word pattern. "But 'is' and 'so' do not make sense next to each other... do they?" Unless it's something like 'it is so __'? "Or they could switch..."

XXXThere must be some sort of incantation to trigger something further. The room seemed fairly unresponsive aside from the few words they had received. Perhaps, in addition to liking darkness, the algae also liked a damper environment? They were aquatic plants, after all. "Bullarum Immortalem!" he cast.

~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~✩✩✩~

Action: Casting the Bubble-Producing Charm on the algae

@Harvey Barrows, @Rafael Kraus, @Hikari Fujimoto, @Jessamine Hemlock, @Costanza Jewelweed

MOD POST - GROUP 1

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 awaits inside,
Treasure torn from those who died.
Fail the search, your time is through,
The treasure stays—and so do you.

◯ ☽ ◑ ● ◐ ❨ ◯

Japanese -English - Thoughts

The air shifted when the light struck the card.

It wasn’t bright—not the blinding sort of glow Lumos produced—but soft and rippling, like moonlight seen through water. The edges of the card shimmered faintly, and then the words began to form, one by one, across its surface. Hikari leaned closer, curiosity overpowering his usual reserve as the letters bled slowly into being.

The last line glowed longer than the rest, hovering like an afterimage—somewhere between a promise and a threat. Hikari's eyes flickered, unbidden to the algae on the wall, most of which was now covered with Akari's bubbles.

Were the algae forming the same words? Or something different? Hikari wondered if another revelio would work on the algae. Even if the words formed were the same, it would not hurt to be extra sure.

Right?

His sketchbook. Hikari pulled it from his satchel and flipped it open, the spine pliant from years of use. The pencil moved without pause, his hand steady and deliberate, the rhythm almost meditative. His handwriting was neat but restrained, letters uniform and crisp despite the trembling light.

When he finished copying, he paused for a second, gaze flicking to the boy who’d found the card. "Nicely done," he said quietly—more an observation than praise, the words light as dust. He wasn’t sure the other boy even heard him.

He glanced back at the riddle. “Are the first few lines describing the Small Hall?” he murmured, mostly to himself. It would make sense—they were, after all, beneath the castle. His pencil tapped softly against the margin. "Pearls and gold…" His brows drew together. Was that metaphorical—or literal?

His eyes skimmed the last lines again, their rhythm uncomfortably sharp. "Treasure torn from those who died," he repeated under his breath. Not remotely reassuring. Best hope that’s a metaphor, he thought grimly.

Around him, the air felt different now—thicker, somehow. The glowing candle floating in the air was the only source of light in the otherwise dark room. Hikari was suddenly glad for it.

He wasn’t superstitious, not really. But there was something about the rhyme that didn’t sit right. The phrasing was too careful, the rhythm too deliberate to be a harmless clue. It read like a warning, wrapped neatly in verse.

He exhaled softly, shutting his sketchbook with a quiet thud. Could there be something in the room that could lead us out into maybe something at a lower level? I can't really be sure. His gaze flicked toward the nearest doorway, half-shadowed and silent.

The faintest ghost of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth—dry, humorless. At least it’s not boring. He slipped the sketchbook back into his bag, the faint echo of his words vanishing into the dim, waiting dark.

◯ ☽ ◑ ● ◐ ❨ ◯

THE DROWNED PALACE

04/10/25

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Rafael had been angling his body towards candle boy’s light when the other’s gaze prompted his own to flicker upwards to meet umber eyes. Harvey Barrows. It seemed that he would have to revoke the title of Candle Boy after all. “Barrows,” He echoed. For a half-breed, his refined manners and ornate countenance piqued the young Kraus’ interest, though it did little to coax a pardon out of him.

“Rafael Kraus.” Rafael considered extending a hand – it was only customary – but Barrows's lack of empty hands prevented him from doing so. Instead, he offered a curt nod, eyes already flitting towards another.

The boy who had stepped forward had strangely alluring crimson irises that inspected the lines on the wall; the wand in his hand darkened from snuffed-out light. “No,” Rafael replied after a moment’s consideration. “The chances for both words to appear together aren’t very high…especially in a context such as this.” However, there was an odd chance that he was providing inaccurate statements, though he lacked doubt in his English language ability. “Seeing as though there are three lines, ‘is’ and ‘so’ may be–”

He had yet to finish when bubbles, courtesy of Crimson Eye, floated into his peripheral vision. Rafael felt a stir of apprehension as the few words they had acquired had now been obscured, Bullarum Immortalem doing nothing to reveal more but acting as a distractive source. The young Kraus’s lips pursed as he attempted to bat the bubbles away. Whatever Crimson Eye had intended to do had failed miserably, and with this factor stacking onto the aggravating migraine born from the fervent vocals, Rafael was close to seething.

Exhaling sharply, just as Rafael turned to reproach, the glinting of the card within his hand – the edges bowing slightly under his firm grip – caught his eye, and he shifted his body back towards Barrows instead. What was revealed under the sole source of light was the opposite of nichts nothing.

As his line of sight narrowed down to the words, the once entrancing voices seemed to chase after the ink seeped onto the paper, until it trailed off after Treasure torn from those who died, leaving “Fail the search, your time is through / The treasure stays—and so do you.” Rafael blinked out of the drowsy haze to realise he had murmured those words aloud, and when the words settled, they rested heavily against his chest.

Fail…time…so do you. Rafael stilled the faintest tremor in his hand as he allowed the others to gather closer to read the words, should they wish to do so. The blue-haired boy from before did so, repeating the first two lines of the second stanza under his breath. Young Kraus bit his tongue to stifle a hitch in realisation as the puzzle grew clearer before his eyes. Where there was temptation, violence was hidden within, and with it, consequence. Displeasure thrummed within his chest. Where Rafael was not one to fear, he stood within an unfamiliar environment with a group of strangers. The target was far from his sight; an uncomfortable conclusion.

Despite the inability to shrug off the chilling words, he spoke tersely, “It seems that these words are lyrics to the song in which the sirens sing. The last two stanzas,” Rafael tapped at the dried ink, “these lines. They were waiting for them. My best guess would be to reply to their demands.” Albeit silent. While he had murmured the lines once, he cleared his throat to attempt a clearer, louder reenactment.

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PERFECTIONIST STATISTICALLY RELEVANT (+2ACC)

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Stamina: 7 ✦ Evasion: 10 ✦ Strength: 1 Wisdom: 9 ✦ ArcPower: 5 ✦ Accuracy: 8(10)

Action: Speaking "Fail the search, your time is through / The treasure stays—and so do you" aloud. | Interacting: @Harvey Barrows, @Hikari Fujimoto, @Akari Kabukimono, @Jessamine Hemlock, @Costanza Jewelweed

GROUP 1