The Drowned Palace Group 8

Drowned Palace location: Drowned Palace Rm.8 date: Oct. 4th, 2025 outfit: Reducio mentions: @Rosaline Everhart, @Althea Valeden, @Rea Kont, @Lucille Rosenhart, @Frederick Buckley word count: 293 words speaking/thinking: 0042A9 / 80A7FF ooc notes: action- looking behind the siren painting

Leo glanced around the room as his group mates were continuing the search for the next clues to help them escape. When he turned back to the paintings in front of him he tried to see if there was anything in the paintings that could possibly be a clue. But after a little while of looking over each of them for any hints he didn’t find anything useful in the paintings themselves. However he did find himself continually drawn to one of the paintings, the one of a woman sitting up on a rock. He was pretty sure she was a siren from the looks of her and her eyes were following his every move. Each time he moved to look at the other paintings he noticed the siren’s eyes on him.

Despite the uneasy feeling he had gotten from the painting, he moved closer to the painting to check it out more. As he looked up he noticed the painting was loosely hanging on a nail on the wall. Leo’s eyebrows furrowed as he moved the painting to the side a little to get a better look before letting it fall back into place and turning to the others in the room. “Guys,” He started to say, clearing his throat before speaking a little louder. “I think there might be something behind the paintings, or at least this one for sure.” Leo pointed to the painting of the siren and looked at it again before going over and carefully lifting it up off the wall. He looked at the lady in the painting and whispered, “You can stop staring at me now.” He chuckled softly and looked at the wall and the back of the painting to see what might be hidden.

stats: STA. 5, EVA. 5, STR. 5, WIS. 5, ARC. 5, ACC. 5 ——————————————— metamorphmagus

date 04/10/25

word count 270

outfit ⁺₊ ☀︎ ⁺₊

speech #8C2626

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

notes xxx

Calling out to the creatures proved fruitless. They couldn't hear her or, if they could, they chose to ignore her. However, she mentally noted the 8, and, resigned, turned around to scan the room once more. Lucille took slow, measured steps around the room, letting her eyes dart this way and that, taking everything in, exploring, perhaps.

She walked by her peers multiple times, and it seemed as if the girl might have finally lost her mind, a screw in there seemed to be just a little too loose, but something wasn't right, she was sure. She just couldn't place it yet. With this thought in mind, she finally stopped in the center of the room.

Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, trying to clear thoughts of the room from her mind so she could look at it with a fresh perspective. In the silence of the room, all she could hear was her heartbeat and her breathing, interrupted at times by the sounds of her friends, Leo talking about a painting. Suddenly, her eyes snapped open, as if jolted awake. That was it: silence. The room was silent.

She spun around, facing the clock, still stuck at 4 and 2. It was broken, and the telltale ticking sound of it was missing. Perhaps it needed a bit of help?

Pulling out her wand, Lucille took a few steps toward it, adjusting her stance, firmly planting her feet in the floor and then, resolutely, she raised her wand. "Reparo," she said, hoping that fixing the clock might fit into the course of action the group had to take.

inventory burn healing paste bruise removal paste

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

Inventory:
1. Revive Potion
2. Wand

Althea had little confidence in a majority of things in her life. However, if there was one thing she was proficient at, it was bumping into the strangest bouts of luck amidst the tidal pool of misfortune and failures. 'Below the Waters' had proven to be purely theoretical content about what lies beneath the ocean and seas, lines upon lines of meticulous yet dry analysis of investigative marine studies by the author and her team. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Frederick approaching her and fishing out the remaining three books from the peculiar bookshelf, doing an impressive balancing act as he skimmed through the three books. Perking up at the question about whether or not any useful clues have been found, Althea closed ‘Below the Waters’ and tucked it away in favor of properly holding onto the other book titled ‘Whisper of the Shells’. She trailed off, "Not yet..." As soon as she said those words, Althea fell silent from the first few seconds of flipping through the book. The later pages were filled with wild and passionate scribbles over illustrations of an assortment of shells, and she slotted a thumb into the pages that depicted a list of shells ranked by rarity as she flipped to a peculiar page nearer to the front. That page had a strange glow from beneath the cover, and when Althea flipped to it, she noticed a date written on the right corner of the book. The year ‘1934’ was written, with the first digit emitting an unnatural glow. The number must be important. “I think I found something here,” She spoke aloud, showing Frederick the page to show him the strange date.

Flipping back to the pages that depicted the ranking of shells and their rarity, Althea’s eyes were drawn to a shell of the highest rarity underlined with multiple lines of ink. ‘Corpus Cushellum’, the shell was called. The shell appeared to be dark purple in colour, its body covered in a beautiful ripple pattern. She turned to the side to look at Rosaline, who was inspecting the pile of shells and the basket they were contained in. “Rosaline,” Althea walked over to present the relevant pages and the image of the shell to the younger girl, “Could you see if you can find this shell? I think we are supposed to find it, since it said 'found'.”

Glancing back at where Lucille is preparing to cast a charm at the broken clock in the room, Althea wondered if the numbers that the malfunctioning clock was pointing towards had anything to do with the glowing date in the book. After all, surely the repetitive presence of clues hinting and emphasizing these numbers could not all be a trick to deter them from the solution. Her mind trailed back to the 6 that was circled with great emphasis on the book. Perhaps they were pushing them to find 6 things… 6 numbers? Something clicked at the memory of Lucille’s theory about the numbers she spotted.

Althea wondered aloud, “I think Lucille has a point with the numbers. I have a number that is standing out in the date written on this book as well. Maybe it’s a code, maybe 6 numbers?”

Action: Trying to make sense of the various number-related clues and sharing her theories.

〚 •• ✎ •• 〛

| Date: October 04, 2025 | Location: The Drowned Palace | Word count: 412 |
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While trying to focus on flipping through all three books at once, Frederick began to think he wouldn’t find anything important in there. He kept the title Ambient Oceans in his hands, while the other two, Watching the Waves and Crossing the Trenches, remained open on the shelves of that strange bookcase. From the halfway point onward, he started turning the pages faster, losing his patience and hoping that there really wasn’t any clue hidden within them. Otherwise, he would definitely end up missing it.

Still on that same reading mission, Frederick’s attention was stolen when he heard Althea say, “I think I found something here,” and he immediately stopped looking at his books to glance over the girl’s shoulder, at the one she was holding. She pointed to a date, 1934, where the first number, the number one, had an extra shimmer to it, something that made it stand out. “I don’t get it.” The boy furrowed his brows and spoke right after noticing the date and several words circled and scribbled, along with the number six crossed out and circled as well.

While Althea continued dictating the information she had found in the book and made her way toward Rosaline to show her something related to the shells, Fred closed the books he had been inspecting and returned the one in his hands to the shelf. He hadn’t had much luck, but at least they wouldn’t waste time having to inspect them later. Then, upon hearing Leo talk about the paintings and noticing Lucille pacing from one side to the other, Fred decided to head over to Leo’s side, since it sounded like the boy had found something, informing the group out loud, “I think there might be something behind the paintings, or at least this one for sure.”

Matching pace with the Ravenclaw, who was taking one of the paintings off the wall, the one of the strange mermaid who had been staring at him the whole time, Fred helped in the end, holding the frame with Leo and assisting him so the boy could inspect both the back of the frame and the section of wall that had been hidden behind the painting. Now partially hidden by the large frame, unable to see whether there was actually anything there, Frederick craned his neck to the side, trying to read Leo’s expression to know if he had found something. “Well? Is there anything there? Did we find a clue?”

Action: Helping Leo lift the painting
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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 |

date	place	tags	wc	speech
04/10/25	The Drowned Palace	@Lucille Rosenhart@Leo Noxley @Althea Valeden@Frederick Buckley	333/200	#36563c

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

Rosaline wasn’t sure what she should do now. The shell had nothing weird, just various shapes and colors. As she looked a bit closer, she found there was a shell near the basket. She picked it up and observed it closer. Its color was dark purple, and it had a different texture from the other shells. Rosaline held it in her palm. Glancing around to see what her groupmates were doing, she felt more and more at ease, looked at everyone who was busy searching for the clues. They were all in the same boat, or she should say in the same underwater palace. Was there a term for this kind of situation? She pondered. Oh, it was the suspension bridge effect. Though she didn’t know exactly how that worked, she felt the term suited the circumstance.

Leo’s call drew her attention. She turned her head to the painting and saw the siren woman staring at the room. This made her shiver a little. Fred seemed to be interested in the painting too and went to help Leo. On the other hand, Rosaline heard someone cast a spell. She looked in the direction of the voice. It was Lucille casting the Mending Charm on the broken clock. When she wanted to watch the scene to see what would happen next, Althea approached her. The Hufflepuff held the book seemingly from the bookshelves and showed her a page. She squinted her eyes to see the shell Althea mentioned and exclaimed, “Oh! Isn’t it this shell?” Presenting the shell to Althea, the shell in her hand was similar to the one printed on the book. Rosaline read the description more carefully. It circled the number six and wrote ‘FOUND’. “Do you think it is hinting that we should find six shells like this and put them back somewhere?” Tilting her head, she muttered. And then she saw the empty basket, so she put the shell into it. “I’m not sure if this will do anything…”

Action: Putting the shell in the basket.

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

7
My first is a sound that's soft and low,
For use it when secrets begin to flow.
My second is hard, but once was home,
To creatures that under the water roam.
My author's first name grows in a reef,
It's pretty and pink, echoes of belief.
Her last is a word for the watery world,
Where seaweed sways and shells are curled.
Page 76

〚 •• ✎ •• 〛

| Date: October 04, 2025 | Location: The Drowned Palace | Word count: 545 |
───────────────────────────────────────────────────────

Frederick’s instinct, upon hearing the sound emitted by the siren in the painting, was to drop the frame. How many hours had passed since they’d started the game? The boy felt a bit tense, an intentional effect of this maze full of mysteries, and every new sound or flicker of light put him on alert. Still, he didn’t let go, and continued holding the painting to help Leo figure out whether there was something there. In response to his question, Fred heard Leo recite yet another clue and, almost unconsciously, shifted the entire weight of the artwork into the Ravenclaw’s arms so he could bring one hand to his chin and the other to his waist, murmuring to himself the words he had just heard.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the spell Lucille had tried to cast hadn’t worked, and that the shell Rosaline placed inside the basket emitted a glow, but he still hadn’t managed to connect these clues to anything useful. The text they had uncovered behind the painting, however, seemed to Frederick like a more concrete lead, a riddle they might actually be able to solve. He dropped the pose and went over the words in his mind once more, his expression tightening into focused concentration.

Since Fred and Althea had been the only ones to look closely at the books, the titles and authors’ names were still fresh in his memory. As he silently repeated the passage written on the back of the painting, something clicked for him, a quick flash of insight linking the riddle to the books. “I think I understand what this clue was trying to say. It’s talking about one of the books on the shelf,” he announced, glancing around at everyone in the room.

Excited by the discovery, he shifted his gaze back and forth between the inscriptions and his friends, separating the lines as he counted them on his fingers. “My first is a sound that’s soft and low, for use it when secrets begin to flow. A soft sound, associated with secrets. That means whisper.” Fred raised his index finger. “My second is hard, but once was home, to creatures that under the water roam. Something hard that’s home to underwater creatures. Shells.” He held up two fingers. “My author’s first name grows in a reef, it’s pretty and pink, echoes of belief. Her last is a word for the watery world, where seaweed sways and shells are curled.” He repeated the last part and took a breath, lifting his ring and pinky fingers as he looked at everyone present. “And that means Coral Ocean, the author of the book Whispers of the Shells!”

Frederick looked directly at Althea, who was still holding the title. “It’s the book you’re holding! The clue also had a note about page seventy six. Should we take a closer look at that page?” He crossed the room in just a few steps, moving closer to the Hufflepuff girl. Fred’s heart sped up with anticipation. The whole group was working together to solve the mystery, each of them performing their task in such a naturally coordinated way that it made him feel the answer to all these puzzles was just about to be revealed.

Action: Figuring out the riddle behind the painting
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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 |

Inventory:
1. Revive Potion
2. Wand

Althea wracked her brain trying to decipher and make sense of the potential code underlying all of the number-related so far. She paced with the book in her hand still flipped to the glowing cover, biting her lip. She had always been bad with puzzles and numbers, something about having a lack of creative thought.

Glancing around the room, Althea watched in trepidation as Frederick and Leo worked together to lift the painting of the siren off the wall. The indignant screech that it unleashed made her wince, but immediately, the empty space where the painting once hung over revealed itself to be the next clue. Althea stepped closer, holding back a worried sound when Frederick practically plonked the whole painting into Leo's arms in favour of inspecting the revealed text. She stayed close in case Leo needed help, but began to scan the text.

"... My author's first name grows in a reef,
It's pretty and pink, echoes of belief.
Her last is a word for the watery world..."

Althea paused. It must be a hint about one of the books, if it were trying to hint at a certain author. Growing in a reef... Watery world... She glanced down at the book in her hand, adjusting her grip to reveal the author's name on the front cover.

"Coral Ocean."

Althea seemed to have registered this the same time as Frederick had, because the boy excitedly shared his theory about it and urged her to turn to the 76th page to check it for clues. She nodded, feeling relieved that the younger boy was no longer looking as tense as he did earlier. The higher their morale, the quicker their minds spin, the faster they all leave this place.

In passing as the group discovered the drawing that had rolled in out of the blue, she theorised out loud, "Do you think we have to return the rest of the books back to the shelf and keep Whispers of the Shells out?"

Immediately flipping the pages of the book open, Althea scanned the bottom edges of ll pages to spot the page numbers. 68, 69, 70... 76. Stopping her hand, Althea began to read the page.

Action: Opening the book Whisper of the Shells to page 76 (and suggesting to place the other books back)

MOD POST - GROUP 8

No mod rolls

Inventory:
1. Revive Potion
2. Wand

Althea's reading of the 76th page of Whisper of the Shells was once again met with the sight of the date that she had seen on the cover of the book. She glanced up at Frederick, who had been helping her dive deeper into the mystery with the books and the drawing that the room supplied them with. She huffed, slightly puzzled, "Perhaps it was not the page that we were supposed to look at. Was there anything else on the clue behind the painting that you uncovered with Leo?" There was clearly a code to be cracked, with the drawing seeming to suggest a certain pattern in the various sections of the room. Perhaps the numbers in each section formed a code according to the sequence? There was still clearly something missing, though...

Althea glanced around the room, trying to find a clue to their puzzle. Her eyes landed on Lucille, whose wand was raised at the faulty clock in a seemingly failed attempt to cast a spell. Something clicked in her mind. Perhaps the thing that was missing was related to fixing the clock! "I think there might be another clue from the clock," The Hufflepuff set down the book by Frederick to approach the broken clock. On the way, she had a moment of hesitation in fishing out her wand again. Failure felt like a deep bite that throbbed with every motion, but a single scan of the room made her steel her resolve. The quicker that they got out before morale fell, the better.

"Let's try to cast together. Sometimes things work better in numbers," Althea readied her wand next to Lucille. She really hoped that she did not appear to be stealing Lucille's thunder, and that her attempt at a reassuring expression conveyed that.

Althea flicked her wand, "Reparo."

Action: Cast Reparo (mending charm) on the clock