In Search of the Source of the Creeping Darkness Main Story

"Anger and Madness are Brothers."

He missed. The rat had seen the hand coming and had been smart enough to move.

The anger and instability churned inside his head, indeed, he was not thinking, he was doing. His mind was a haze of bloodlust that had been tipped over, spilling through his body. Adrenaline numbed any pain that might come from the rodent's second oncoming nip.

He let out a guttural snarling scream that sounded more wild beast than human but would likely be wholly unnerving due to its unknown nature. Seems his mind had degraded to a less-than-human state. He slid to the ground, crouching with his hands pressed against the coarse floor beneath him.

Growling lowly like a hunting hound, he listened, any previous whispers gone in wake of the maddening fog that coagulated his mind. Perhaps if he hadn't been reduced to this state he would, indeed, light his wand, but that obviously wasn't the case. Logical, coherent thought had left him in favour of unleashing the loathing rage he constantly kept bottled up.

It oozed out of him like malevolent tar. It screamed danger yet the rodent seemed to have lost any basic animal instinct to avoid him. Leave it to Hogwarts to have unnatural rats scurrying its basement ready to attack anyone near.

His adrenaline-heightened senses had their potential maxed by the fight-or-flight hormone. He knew, felt, that he had located the oncoming prey. Lurching forward in a disjointed pounce he attempted to land on his perceived target.

If he missed it he'd quickly coil back into his corner with another inhuman-yet-human snarl of rage. His eyes were opened wide, pupils dilated in the darkness giving them a more feline-like appearance. His teeth were bared like a cornered dog baring its fangs.

His muscles were coiled tight, blood hastily being directed the main muscle groups by his stressed body. His fingers coiled into claw-like forms, he occasionally lashed out blindly and without direction in his remaining areas of vulnerability. The attacks were aimless, more of a way to vent his pent-up hostility if anything.

Another hoars, bestial screeching snarl escaped him, guttural as if tearing up from the depths of his insides to be brought into the damp, dark dungeons. His throat was raw, but he wasn't stopping. He'd likely only calm down if someone intervened, or if the rat perished by his hands.

Honestly, this bought of madness was hardly the fault of the rat. That issue was only the tip of the iceberg. It had merely made an unpredictable chain reaction, rushing down all that was concealed inside Selim and bringing it at once to the surface.

It bared itself in an inhuman wrath that held no rhyme or rhythm behind it.

Though unlikely (It seems), if the attack hit, the boy would let out a low growl of satisfaction, eyeing his perceived prize no matter if it struggled trying to bite him, unless it died from the full force of a twelve-year-old boy hitting it like a truck.

His mouth contorting into a twisted blend of a snarl and a smile, he'd tighten his hold on the rodent pinned beneath his hands like a cat pinning a mouse against the heartless stone ground. He'd let out a mockery of a canis howl twisted and woven between the roar of a victorious panthera.

He'd shift positions, bringing his legs closer to the rest of his extended form. His muscles were still tensed with adrenaline, and he was panting from the excess internal heat of the rush.

Whether he caught the rat or not, his hypersensitized ears would hear the loud banging of a door being broken down. He growls in anticipation and wariness, smelling the faint hit of charred flesh and clothing through the air. The cracking of a fire making his amber eyes narrow as he took a brief moment of time to stare at the door, head cocked to the side as he paused in whatever he was doing. Occasionally, his form shook, trembling as his heart pounded in his chest. He had a lightheaded feeling, but easily ignored it in favour of focusing on his surroundings. None of the side-effects of the rush registered to him, blocked by his incoherent, yet sharply focused mental state.

The outcome of his time in the dungeons would likely depend on whether or not Piper decided it prudent to tell the others about where he went. Perhaps he'd be forgotten in the dungeons, left behind in a damp room to wither away alone.

Not that the boy would likely care, either way, it was just a prolonged sleep to him if he perished from this world, infected and starving. To him, it was worth it for the rest that oft evaded him and left his mind to degrade into constant delusions.

Actions: Attempting to pounce on the rat. Screeching, howling, and roaring like a maddened animal [free action]. Generally being an unstable child whilst alone in narrow room [free action]

If people are curious, here's the sources for my described effect of adreniline: Healthline.com | Hormone.org | Endoctineweb.com

_{Open to interactions}
Interacting:@Henry Llewellyn | @Cassandra Ironwoods | @Bridget Collins | @Illowy Magnard
Mentioning: @Starlee Kennedy | @Santario Martin
Languages: _{English | French | Italian | Arabic | Russian}
Outfit

Upon entering the new room, Henry noticed several things. One was that one girl was looking down what appeared to be a well. Several spells were cast at once and several things happened. One of the other girls who entered with him and K tried casting a spell but hit the wrong person. It was the thought that counted, right? The spell would have slowed down the movement of one of the falling girls. Instead, it slowed the movements of the other girl in the room.

Heading closer to the action, and the well, Henry looked into it to see what he could see. As he did so, K began suggesting an action plan. “I can try,” he muttered, turning back to the group and grabbing out his wand. “Lumos,” he spoke, hoping this would work, since K was going to extinguish his lighting charm. As K suggested the other two try levitating the girls out with the levitation charm, something itched at the back of his brain. There was something about the levitation charm he could have sworn he remembered learning in class. “Doesn’t that not work on people?” He muttered aloud, realizing how negative he sounded. “I mean, it’s still worth a shot,” he tagged on quickly.

As they discussed plans, he dug his free hand into his pocket, looking for something useful. Since he always kept random things in his pockets, maybe he could find something they could use. Pulling out what he could fit in one hand, he felt a button, a friendship bracelet he’d gotten from Diana, several small stones, and a couple of his origami stars. “I dunno if these could be useful, but perhaps we could use them?” He offered, holding out the items and hoping everyone could see them.

Regardless of what everyone thought of his objects, he hoped he could be at least a little useful with the lighting charm.

@Henry Knight, @Cassandra Ironwoods, @Bridget Collins, @Illowy Magnard, @Starlee Kennedy, @Santario Martin
Action: Casting Lumos, looking around, offering random things that could help
Abilities: Keen Eye
Stats: Sta.: 7 ll Eva.: 7 ll Str.: 3 ll Wis.: 4 ll ArcPow: 8 ll Acc: 6
color code = #5A8697

Interacting with @Cassandra Ironwoods & @Bridget Collins
Mentioning @Illowy Magnard & @Santario Martin
Open to other interactions
Post Tracker: X | X | X | X | X

It seemed that both her and Santario had caused quite the commotion, as people began to enter the room in search of their screams. More than just Cash's head appeared up in the small circle of the well opening that felt so far above her. However, she couldn't clearly tell who was who from such a distance, as well as the pain beginning to overwhelm her. She did hear someone [Bridget] call down to see if Santario was okay.

She yelled back with what strength she had, "She's knocked out! She won't respond..."

Another person [Illowy] appeared at the lip of the well above them, chiding them for jumping down in the well. She felt a bit better as the student above her reassured her that they would get her out safely. Tears began to well up in her eyes. Why on earth had she and Cash decided to come down here? Sure... for adventure... but this wasn't exactly what she had in mind. She just wanted to explore! The dungeons were ripe for exploration, and she trusted Cash with her life. She waited as Cash cast Wingardium Leviosa on her. She had managed to cast her Lumos successfully and she had hoped that it would help with Cash's casting.

And then things went horribly wrong. She was wrenched into the air by her leggings, and she tried to clutch her broken leg as she was lifted quickly, up and up, out of the well... but she didn't stop. She came crashing into the ceiling and screamed as her rear end made contact with it, another loud crunch sound from her pelvis now being added to her growing list of broken bones. She caught a glimpse of the growing crowd in the room, and a wave of embarrassment came over her. She had no time to act on this embarrassment, as then Cash's spell ended, and she began her second plummet down the forty feet to the bottom of the well, crashing atop Santario again. Another loud crunch could be heard as her shoulder made impact with the stony bottom of the well.

And with a small wimper... Starlee's eyes blurred and her vision slowly disappeared as she descended into unconsciousness. "H-help...."

Dream Sequence

Darkness had enveloped her. But she wasn't one to simply embrace it, she would fight against it the best that she could. She was loosing, and her vision again blurred and into it came the street that she grew up on in Edinburgh. She was standing on the other side of the street, staring at the front door of their townhouse. Cars were racing up and down the street. It was a balmy summer afternoon, and the lunch rush was in full swing. But things felt different... off somehow.

She watched as an old man dressed in quite the high class fashion with a fanciful cane walk up to the front door. He whipped out a wand and quickly unlocked it. He seemed somewhat familiar, but Starlee couldn't quite figure out who or why from such a distance, and it seemed her feet were glued in place, preventing any closer investigation. The old man looked around quickly, stuffed his wand back into his bright blue blazer pocket and entered the building. A few moments later, she could see through the large bay window on the second level her father approaching the old man and giving him a hug. The old man returned it, but they seemed to hold some sort of animosity toward each other. Something unspoken, yet clearly visible in the cautiousness of their movements. It wasn't long after they had started conversing that this animosity was let loose.

Screaming. Yelling. Anger. Pain.

She watched the two fighting, wishing she could do something, anything, to get them to stop. It seemed they had reached something of an impasse, and the old man quickly got up and left. He stormed out of the door, slamming it behind him. He walked down the street, still carrying with him a face of anger.

Her vision blurred again, and it was now evening. Her father was again standing in the bay window, looking outward in a contemplating matter, clearly still unnerved by the earlier (was it even earlier? She didn't know...) interaction. All she could see now were silhouettes, with the light cast against him, blacking him out from her view. A silhouette of a woman entered her view, with a young boy, no more than three, slung over her shoulder, dead asleep. The two hugged for quite some time and exchanged some sort of look, again masked by the shadows, and then both of them promptly left the room. The light of the room was switched off and again Starlee was left in darkness.

Action: KO'd, lost in her dreams
Current Location: #3
Abilities: Healing Sage
Stats: Stamina: 4 - Evasion: 5 - Strength: 6 - Wisdom: 8 - Arcane: 6 - Accuracy: 5

@Koko Riddle

Alexander let out a small tired sigh, it took a bit of effort move what now had to be a few dozen bottles. Since there was quite a collection of all these things, a still significant one as much of the hallway was still covered by the bottles. BUt one did not have to be an amazing acrobat to now cover the distance of the hallway. As long as one was careful at least.

Alexander took the opportunity to wipe a tiny bit of sweat of his forehead. He had not expected as much manual labor when going down here, but this venture had already proven profitable. Now his hope was that he could find far more items that could be of use. For one thing, he would certainly have to take a couple of these bottles with weird liquids with him. They could have some interesting chemical or magical properties. And he had to make use of every tool that could be to his advantage.

Tools which probably lay further in the dungeon. For this area was rarely explored, who knew what was down here. What secrets of older times still lay here, unfound artifact of perhaps not great power, but perhaps enough power to be useful. That or useful info, such as that which he had already been found and deciphered. Which reminded him that he really should learn revellio later, but that was not now. Now was the act of crossing to the next room and explore beyond this corridor.

One important thing though, was to see what he was doing. Right now he had a good vision of the situation because of the lights in the great hall. But if he went exploring further he would not have this advantage. As such, Alexander quietly incanted "Lumos" and created a small loop with his wand.

Presuming this is successful

Alex let out a small sight of relief, then narrowed his eyes as he looked at the path forwards. This was risky but what truly was life without a little risk. Thus with his focus set to maximum, Alexander went forward. Seeking to delve further into this dark dungeon. Whether this was because of hubris, recklessness, or a desire to be prepared. Not even Alex himself could know, yet with a degree of weird certainty Alexander went forwards.

Actions: Casting lumos. Moving towards room 11
Location: Room 10 --> Room 11
Abilities: Evasive Maneuvers and Non-human Enthusiast Monster Hunter (In my heart it will always remain monster hunter, xD)
Stats:
Stamina: 7
Evasion: 9
Strength: 3
Wisdom: 8
Arc Power: 6
Accuracy: 8
Total: 41

There was little to speak of in this darkened corridor. Muted, both in word and in step Mathias tried to become invisible, a silent watcher. He knew that his greatest intervention would be the woman that he led into these basements. Her ire and wrath versus the uncanny setting, his reckless peers and the unknown that calls this place their domicile.

The descent down the stone steps was not particularly quick, he was in no rush. Time halted for no man or in Miss Jensen's case, woman. Yet the perception of time was a different entity entirely. Anticipation has a nasty habit of slowing the passage of time, in a way it was a source of eternal youth, people frozen in a terrible moment in time for a protracted period. He gave no assurances, he dared not hasten these precious years. It was time for her to stew, to contemplate Flashes consequences for a crime that never mattered. The intention was to distract, to deter and to add the right variable at the most opportune time for purposes that would remain undisclosed for this academic year.

The air did not seem quite so stale, it had been recently lived. Life changes things, like a dungeon that has fallen to disuse. Although he was perhaps one of the few who would wonder why a Scottish castle built with the intention of being a school, was built with a dungeon? It defied logic and the stated intent and purpose of this institution.

Upon entering Room 2, a communal space, the Head of House would see -- a crowd. The victories and the failings of his housemates. The chaos that came naturally to these teens and would leave her distracted. Distraught. Flash defensive. Mathias -- entertained. This was of course the moment where he would also make some enemies, for being true to his word and accepting the challenge by fetching Professor Jensen.

A thin, smug expression would eclipse his face as he walked to the center of the room. There was no cowering, no fear. Not of his peers at the very least. Everything was ephemeral. All things were temporary. No matter what happens, this too would pass. But the advantages earned at this moment would be long-lasting. "Here we are Miss Jensen," he announced calmly. He took care to make certain he would mute the humor in his voice or excitement in his eyes. "And Flash is over there," he would point his finger in Holmwood's direction presuming he has not somehow vacated the room or hid his presence.

Enter Room 2 with Jensen.

Interactions: @Illowy Magnard, @Cassandra Ironwoods, @Henry Knight, and @Henry Llewellyn
Mentions: Starlee Kennedy and Santario Martin
Open to Interactions

She's knocked out. Bridget had never been so happy to hear those words. Unconscious still wasn't good--it meant Santario was hurt, that she wouldn't be able to assist them at all in getting her to safety--but it could have been so, so much worse. Cassandra's answer didn't make much sense, the third year unsure of why the two girls would have ever jumped such a long distance. She didn't know the blonde girl, but Santario was no fool. Surely there was more to it than that. Regardless, how exactly it had happened didn't matter; knowing whatever had happened hadn't been done by some attacker was all she needed right now.

She couldn't think of a way to fix this. The spells she had were either ineffective or risky and a more physical action such as climbing down one way or another would likely only spell more problems. Her eye was caught by Cassandra brandishing their wand. Bridget tensed. If she didn't know a single spell that was risk-free, Cassandra probably didn't either. "Wait-" She was too late, the incantation and wand movement of the Levitation Charm already complete. She could see where the spell made sense, at least until you recalled the story of the inventor and noted how long concentration would have to be maintained. The risk was just too great.

Worse, Cassandra hadn't said the incantation quite right. Her time had a duellist had made Bridget very aware of the importance of getting every aspect of the cast perfect. Otherwise, you'd be subject to some unintended, often horrible effect. Usually that meant a backfire, this time it sent the blonde-haired girl rocketing upward. Bridget watched in horror as she slammed into the ceiling. And then she was falling again. She was shocked, and that meant she was too slow. Too slow to cast anything that would help, like Illowy tried to. Too slow to catch her, though she had extended a hand instinctively to try. There was a sickening thud as the girl hit the bottom of the well a second time, yet another scream cut short. This time, she wasn't moving.

That... complicated things. Getting Santario and the other girl to safety would have already been a challenge, except they would have had communication with someone down there. Now both girls were injured and unresponsive. She looked up at Cassandra, whose movements were slowed by Illowy's missed spell. Due to that slowing effect, it was hard to tell exactly how they were taking this, but considering how they'd seemed a little panicked before and had just accidentally gotten the blonde-haired girl even more hurt, the second year probably wasn't taking it too well. Especially if that was their friend, desperation could set in. That would only lead to recklessness, which they couldn't afford.

"It's okay." It really wasn't. "We'll figure something else out." They just needed to be cautious, logical. Of course, there remained the issue of her not being able to think of a single good way to fix this mess. Cassandra's slowed movements, at least, were something she could do something about, and she reached for her wand to do so. Henry got to it first, though, suggesting a course of action. It wasn't a horrible idea. A good use of teamwork, perhaps together they could work it out. Except, the other boy was right. Wingardium Leviosa didn't work on people, just their clothes. Aim would be poor from this range, so what if that piece of clothing ended up being their shoe or something? They could slip out of that shoe. How many more times could the girls fall before something irreversible happened?

Not that she had a better idea currently. If it was anything else, she would have given it a try, but she wasn't willing to leave this to chance. Not with what could happen as a result, not with such a wide margin for error. In this case, it was not worth a shot. The objects the redheaded boy produced from his pockets didn't seem like they were going to help, either. Maybe if the girls were still conscious and one of them up here had spectacular aim they could have had them hold onto the friendship bracelet and levitated that. Or something. "He's right. Levitating would be too risky." But was not doing anything any better? As it stood, they were not capable enough to do this safely.

Which meant they needed help. A Professor's help, probably. She hadn't wanted to involve a Professor before, but that was because they would get in the way of investigation and likely not follow up on it themselves. Now, though, the well-being of two of her housemates took precedence over searching for whatever was down here. Mind made up, she got to her feet. "I'm going to go get help." The statement had been addressed to all of them, and now she turned to Illowy. "You should probably stay, see if you can figure something out. Be careful." Keep them from doing anything stupid. With that, she glanced at the well one more time, silently willing Santario and the other girl to hold on, and then hurried back the way she'd come not long ago.

Action: Moving back to Room 2
Location: Room 3 → Room 2
Stats: STA: 7 | EVA: 9 | STR: 7 | WIS: 9 | ARC: 7 | ACC: 8
Abilities: Sixth Sense | Evasive Maneuvers | Prodigal DADA Learner

"See anything?" Percival Rainwood's voice called from a little further ahead.

You mean other than you holding Knight's hand? he thought with some disdain, but said instead, "The white stuff in the first room was salt. I'm guessing this stuff trailing down the stairs might be the same thing." Not that he'd had a chance to test it yet. There had been no time.

Speaking of no time, they seemed to have barely made it to room 2 before Flash, Søren, and Dan managed to kick down the door to room 4. Right there in full view was a girl who had been calling out to tell them where she was. How had she gotten there if they'd only just broken down the door? Surely she hadn't barricaded herself in? Maybe a trap had blocked her escape once she'd gone inside.

Whatever the case, the sight of the burning student brought Jack nightmare flashbacks of watching Victor burn alive at the Blossom Ball. Whipping out his wand, he aimed it at the girl to put out her flames and ease her suffering - at least from the fire. He was so distracted by the burning that he missed the rats almost entirely; their presence barely registering in his mind, let alone as a threat.

"EXTINGUO!" he yelled at the top of his lungs, as if the louder his panicked voice called it, the faster and stronger his spell would be against the fire.

Shortly after that, Jack's attention was drawn by a new threat - one he hadn't seen coming but was nevertheless ready with a new adrenaline rush to take it on.

"Here we are Miss Jensen," the familiar voice announced, as if giving a tour. "And Flash is over there."

The Welsh redhead was just about ready to rearrange the features of the English one's smug little face. There was no way he was up to anything good. Mathias was a boy from their very own dorm. Just what did he think he was doing?!

Well, no matter. Making enemies was Jack's hobby, so he had no qualms whatsoever about adding Mathias to the end of that very long list. He marched straight up to Mathias, jabbing his wand in the other boy's chest as he did so.

"You little shit! What do you want with Flash? It's his freakin' birthday and he probably wants to be spending it down here less than anyone else!" he viciously snarled, baring his teeth like some wild animal. The panic of the blaze had caused his fear to fuel his fury toward the first year.

"Calling Professor Jensen over was one thing, but at least call her for something useful! You really think Flash would be in these dungeons if no one else was? Did you stop to think for one second that maybe he was trying to get the others out?"

As he gave the underclassman a tongue-lashing, he placed himself bodily between the boy in question and the pair of newcomers who seemed intent on the blue-eyed brunet for some reason.

Open to interactions
Interacting with: @Percival Rainwood & @Mathias Pride
Mentioning: @Piper Clark, @Hjørdis Jensen, @Søren Silverwood, @Evelynn Decipio, @Ileen Knight, @Flash Holmwood, @Søren Silverwood, & @Dan Palmer
Location: Room 2
Action: Casting the Extinguishing Charm on Piper Clark
Abilities: Prodigal Charms Learner; Binding Mark
Stats: Stamina: 6 | Evasion: 7 | Strength: 3 | Wisdom: 10 | ArcPower: 7 | Accuracy: 7
Inventory: Bluebottle broom, bag, wand, invisibility cloak, Locksmith's Knife, a bottle of holy water, pencil, paper, salt
Post Tracker: [1] [2] [3] [4]

With the three of them together, whatever had been stopping the door from opening was toppled easily. Unexpected, of course, was the plume of fire on the other side, seeming to be the girl Dan had mentioned. The room was otherwise dark-- he didn't hear Selim screaming.

He wouldn't get the opportunity to deduct what had gone on in that room, with Burnett seeming to be on firewatch for the evening, Flash's attention was instead drawn to the sound of voices approaching from the other room. It was the cocktail effect-- it's very easy to hear your name, even in a crowded room full of noise.

He hadn't really doubted that Pride might actually get Jensen, but he at least thought he'd have more time. Maybe he'd have shuffled his feet or stopped for a snack? Instead he must have skipped the whole way, gaily guided by his glee to tattle. That was truly unfortunate.

The truth was, Flash was usually fine with admitting defeat, it was humility in defeat that showed real cunning. To his surprise however, Burnett seemed to then... run interference? He was a bit disturbed to hear his birthday announced so publically. Clearly he wasn't celebrating it. Didn't he know that Flash preferred to keep information about himself private? Was he just going to start telling people everything he knew? Well, maybe it wasn't malicious... maybe he was just trying to help.

Sensing an opportunity he didn't want to pass up, Flash made for the door he and Vareillion opened, running towards the path that Vareillion convieniently cleared.

He'd slow briefly when he went by Evelynn, "The cloak..." He didn't have time to elaborate. Hopefully he wouldn't get a worse punishment for evading capture. Better yet if he had not been noticed at all.

What did you do, when you suddenly realize that there is more happening than you bargained for? Where does your mind go when you blink, and suddenly your actions have led you down a path that you had never bargained for. Well, depending on the severity, your brain would go into fight, flight, freeze or fawn. It was only natural. However in the curious case of Kaegen Deathmote, he had already anticipated that enemies would be everywhere. He had expected that people would fall for his traps, and the ones already strewn about the dungeons. The screams were welcome, they heralded success, but also a choice.

He had the option, he could move towards the screams, he could take a hostage, they were obviously wounded or they wouldn't be crying for help. Except for a couple foils. The first of these was that it was probably a trap. Trying to lure him into a false sense of security before leaping out, revealing their injuries to be fakes. Another foil was the obvious truth that there was undoubtedly a lot of them. There had to be, who would send anything but an army down into the dungeons after him? Which meant that just as he could be drawn to the scream, the screamer's allies could as well. But then maybe he could ambush them?

No. Kaegen Deathmote sometimes had foolish thoughts, but he was no fool. he would be overwhelmed, slaughtered, hung up from the rafters of the great hall as a trophy to mark the victory of the lightworlders. His final decision was determined by his shaking fingers, the nervous pain, the panic that crept throughout his veins like liquid centipedes.

There was something else to address. The voices, just around the corner. His first instinct was to run, but in theory, he could probably outdo them in a dead sprint through the dungeons, unless they shapeshifted to have more legs. And he had come here to find his enemies, to understand them, to form a game plan and not be entirely on the defensive. He had just been in a game plan mindset, he had just managed to focus, but the first scream he heard had thrown him off. There were so many memories he had associated with screams, so many terrible snapshots of a past he desperately wanted to forget. And most of the time, he did forget.

Taking a deep breath, Kaegen shifted towards the corner, trying to get close enough to hear what the voices were saying, and where they were coming from. He was scared, he was feeling smaller and smaller by the second. He shouldn't have pushed away that haze, he should have held on to it. Been fueled by it.

Moves further along the corridor, towards the voices in order to get within hearing distance
Location: 6b