In Search of the Source of the Creeping Darkness Main Story

Interacting | @Percival Rainwood | @Mathias Pride
Mentions | @Piper Clark | @Selim Faust

Although it could only have been a few seconds, Ileen felt infinitely helpless as she lay motionless on the cold floor. People needed help. She needed help. Why wasn't anyone doing anything? So many had come with her to the dungeons, but when it came down to it, of course, no one did anything. Deep contempt gripped her for her own house and her classmates. All of them always boasted that they had stood in the way of the dangers, while in reality they had only watched from a safe distance. At least she could see Piper, who stumbled out of the room and was safe. At least for now.
But even that she perceived only at the edge of her consciousness. Other cries for help reached her ears and she heard Selim's name again. Blind despair and panic threatened to overwhelm her as a familiar voice reached her ears. Percival. He sounded hardly less panicked than she felt.

He had come back to help her! She felt the warmth return to her muscles as he took her own spell from her and with a gasp she turned onto her back and sat up. Everything was spinning and she would definitely keep some bruises - but that was not important. She looked up at the boy, touched and amazed that he had come back to her. A dwarf blush stole onto her cheeks. "Thank you." The word was more breathed, but it came from the bottom of her heart. He had really saved her.
In another situation, she would have dwelled more on the feelings it had triggered in her, but they didn't have time. Percival had come back even though he had wanted to help someone. To help Selim. Mathias had already walked on and was making his way to a door, as could be perceived from his words. Selim was there.

Ileen struggled to her feet and gripped her wand tighter. Piper was safe. At least for now. She would check on her wounds later, if the girl would even let her. But now there were more pressing problems. Ignoring her own superficial pain, Ileen turned to the dark room. Everything in her bristled, the shadows frightened her. But she would not just stand around.
"Come on, they probably need help. Maybe Selim is wounded or we need to fight off more rats." Or worse, she added in thought, but didn't speak it. Determined, she followed Mathias into the next room, her wand raised in her hand.

Mathias Pride. Ileen had had very little to do with him so far. But he seemed to be interested not only in himself, but in risking something to save others. Ileen received quiet respect for him. "We are coming!" She wanted him to know that he was not alone in saving Selim and who else. She wanted him to know that he had backup.

Action: trying to help Mathias to save Selim
Ability: Sixth Sense, Prodigal Charms Learner
Stats: Sta:6 | Ev:8 | Str:3 | Wis:9 | Arc:6 | Acc:9
Location: Room 2

Simple in theory, maybe, an impossible shot to miss, some might say. He wanted to stop the horrible feeling welling in him, the abject terror, but his willpower alone could not stop the trembling of his hands. He wasn't ready, he wasn't safe. Panic. Flash's vision would blotch occasionally, a sign he had finally started to recognize as meaning he was not breathing enough. Hard to play the hero when you can barely keep from fainting at the sight of danger. To think that Koko was being afflicted with the curse-- he had heard enough accounts by now to know it was extremely painful. Maybe he was next, maybe he was going to die.

He missed, badly. Koko was hit by his spell instead, and the mortification he felt would be dwarfed by the dread that itched in his bones when her light went out. While being in the dungeons and in the dark was already deeply unsettling for Flash, it didn't help that the shadow grew larger at the vacancy of light. "F-fuck." Sometimes it felt good to curse. This was a fucky situation.

His only hope was to push through it. Like ripping off a plaster. He wasn't going to leave Koko behind, even though logic would dictate it was his best chance for survival. Frankly, it hadn't even occurred to him. He wished instead that he had been quicker, stopped her before the attack. His thoughts barely registered for long though, only adrenaline kept his jelly legs standing. In the future, it would probably be good to stay away from such panic-inducing situations. If he was lucky, he would live long enough to put the lesson to practice.

He did not have much time or brain power to form a coherent strategy, so he instead acted through intuition. Lack of light made it bigger, it needed to be less big. "Lumos."

Selim Text Color: #4d0f25
Aku Text Color: #614f6d

"My death has not yet quite arrived, but it is near and inevitable, as the night follows the day." - George Washington

The door opened.

Falling just beyond the threshold of the doorway his lungs immediately started taking in gasps of air after sensing that here there was oxygen, more oxygen, precious air. For a few brief moments, Selim basked in it, senses returning to him. The pain was still there though. The feeling of liquid fire in his lungs and throat, his eyes and sinuses, was still there. One might say he was not out of the woods yet.

His bloodshot eyes snapped open, watering and unfocused, he let out a horrible rattling wheeze as he dragged himself fully into the next room, coughing harshly. A spatter of red born from his worsened lung condition painted the concrete below, and he rolled himself onto his back, trying to catch his breath, still breathing tainted air.

The boy tried to focus on what was going on, and his eyes landed on the open door.

"Close... it... chemicals mixed. Toxic... gas." The Slytherin gasped to his underclassmen, trying to raise his voice despite his ragged throat hindering him greatly. It would keep spreading thanks to the chemical reaction, the gas wouldn't stop until the mess was cleaned but there was no time for that. Going inside that cramped room was asking to be knocked out cold and stuck promptly into a coma.

Selim could only guess as to what the two chemicals that mixed were, but it was highly likely to be the work of the two most common muggle household cleaning products, ammonia and bleach.

A dangerous combination.

The door. "Hurry..." He gasped out, trying to make his words heard by anyone in the room. He was rewarded with another coughing fit. Rolling onto his side his frame shook aggressively as his body desperately tried to expel the poison coiling through it.

He cupped his hands over his mouth and nose. His limbs trembled with the exertion they were put through. Selim had only been rendered this weak once, and it'd be forever grained into his mind and body as a result.

When the cough subsided, he glanced at his hands and tried to pull himself to his feet. After swaying he placed a hand on the wall to study himself. They needed to warn the other students, this was no time to be paranoid about everyone's intentions. He could thank his dormmate later if they survived this mess.

If they did survive it seems he'd be in yet another person's debt. Troublesome.

Vision spinning he clenched his teeth, leaning heavily against the wall once again. He was getting tired of events like this happening in a school that was supposed to be safe. How had those two chemicals gotten down here? Why did it seem that there was someone living down here? Why were there living shadows attacking students? Spiders? Dolls?

It was ridiculous.

What a mess indeed.

He coughed again, and slowly made his way further from the door. He barely had the strength to stand much less closes such a heavy door. he could see the fuzzy figure of another person in the room. Another fit hit him, and he covered his mouth with his arm, pointing to the door and hoping they got the message to help. He could stand, for now, if they were ere worried about him they could worry later. First, they had to make sure that no one fainted from that cursed gas.

Interactions: @Hjørdis Jensen
Mentions: Starlee Kennedy and Santario Martin

From the tip of her wand came the bright sphere of light. A shield from the shadows, though it provided her little comfort. She'd watched the shadows twitch and sway, was sure they were wrong, but they hadn't moved to attack, had they? The much more pressing threat was the state of Santario and Starlee. This was insane, far too much to wrap her head around even with all the madness she'd experienced at Hogwarts. Two of her peers were at the bottom of a well and she couldn't eliminate the possibility they were dying down there.

Watching Jensen remove the stone was making her antsy. This wasn't fast enough. The Lumos Maxima was something, but now she was just standing there. Perhaps her Head of House had decided similar, abandoning the mostly removed stone and retreating to the lip of the well. Bandages flew from her wand. Why hadn't she tried that? Because... because she was scared she'd just make things worse. Bridget knew Ferula, and though it wasn't a spell she was extremely confident in, she could cast it. So, then, it should have been attempted, she should have tried to overcome the obstacles of distance and lack of visual. But she might have just messed it up like she had at fight club, and then she bore responsibility for the situation falling further apart. Her inaction, thinking about it now, seemed just as bad.

It didn't matter, the stinging sense of failure; she couldn't change what she'd already done. They weren't out of the woods yet. Jensen had called for someone to take over moving the stone, and Bridget hurried over to it. It was already almost all of the way out, only taking a few nudges to fully clear the passage. She was not sure she trusted this. They only knew this was here because of a note mysteriously appearing and this dungeon had a pattern of being booby-trapped. Not to mention it was a small space. She could fit, not yet fully grown and not likely to be particularly tall when she was, but she'd be cramped and that would mean a lack of maneuverability. If this was a trap, entering it would be surrendering her ability to get away. Still, she had to get down to Santario and Starlee.

Gripping her wand a little tighter, she glanced over her shoulder for confirmation from Jensen, or at least to check the Head of House wasn't telling her to stop, before she crouched to fit into the gap. Then it was just crawling, dirt and dust no doubt coating the walls and the floor and now her. Claustrophobic wasn't something she considered herself, but something had to explain her heart thudding in her chest. Or maybe that was from the likelihood of spiders in here she was trying not to think about. Would it be this small passage all the way down? Would it connect to a staircase? How was she even going to get Santario and Starlee back out? She had to get down somehow; perhaps she'd just be left scaling a decline.

Or maybe this didn't go anywhere at all. What if something closed and she ended up trapped by herself? She hadn't actually been alone the entire time down here, save for a very short stretch of hallway, and she very much didn't want to be. That was when especially bad things could happen. Enough of that, she told herself. She'd find out soon enough what this passage had in store, and for now it was crucial she swallow down her fear, concentrate on keeping her light.

Action: Crawling through the passage and maintaining Lumos Maxima
Location: Room 3
Stats: STA: 7 | EVA: 9 | STR: 7 | WIS: 9 | ARC: 7 | ACC: 8
Abilities: Sixth Sense | Evasive Maneuvers | Prodigal DADA Learner

Collins managed to light up her own wand behind Hjørdis, which gave the latter a tad bit of relief. At the very least, the girl might be safe from the darkness for a few moments without her. Hjørdis could barely see down the well, in fairness but it seemed like her spell hit someone. Without hesitation, she aimed her wand at the other figure at the bottom of the well - this time, hoping to hit the one that was on top. They could heal their broken bones, stop their bleeding and anything else as soon as they got them out of there. But they needed to stay alive for now and she had no idea how badly they were injured from this distance.

Glancing over her shoulder, she noticed Collins by the loose stone. The space was not large but she was pretty sure they could fit through there. She swallowed, hating what she was about to say but it seemed to be the only idea for now. She did not like it but the student seemed to have thought the same thing. Catching the younger female's eye, Hjørdis hesitated for a moment before nodding, "Go quickly, but be careful," She warned her, "Don't let the light fade," She instructed. She did not want to send Collins alone but right now, the Slytherin seemed to be the only one functioning and capable of doing anything. The gap was small but it should lead down to the bottom of the well.

Hjørdis silently just hoped it was not a trap. At this point, she was trusting that note. Turning back to look down at the well, she continued to do what she had been intending to do, "Ferula!" She would hiss again, hoping to keep them both alive for a few moments longer.

If anyone else entered the room or was still there, she would snap at them, "Follow Collins and get those two out of the well," She would order them. Her plan was to also follow behind if she could fit through it and if they needed her help but for now, a few healing spells would probably help. Geesh, she was hoping someone - anyone - would go with Bridget. She really did not need a third person getting hurt at this point.

ACTION: Attempt to cast Ferula at Starlee (Maintain Lumos Maxima if possible)

Mathias would be assailed by the sting of chloramine gas. It would caused the youth to recoil as Selim (hopefully) scrambled out of the room he was locked in. Selim looked like an asylum patient on hard drugs on a good day, so the hacking, blood shot, greying youth that met him had found the basement of a very low ground floor. The first year made way for Selim, attempting to give the youth space as the tainted air billowed into the room stinging his eyes and throat.

"Close... it... chemicals mixed. Toxic... gas."

Is what Selim thought he communicated but in truth all Mathias heard was a a gravely noise and a wheeze. "There is something wrong with Selim!" Mathias shouted. He knew that sounding any alarm was an exercise in futility, his peers were so wrapped up in their personal dramas and selfish ambitions that it was likely his housemates had decided to run down the unexplored passageways.

Mathias made a decision he would likely regret. He attempted to grab Selim by the collar, the sleeve, the waistband, the forearm. Honestly it did not matter.

"Hurry..."

Selim insisted. It came out as an awful high-pitched grunt. "Try to not breathe," Mathias being the genius he was would suggest. Selim was well aware. Mathias had nothing reassuring to say, in fact the fragile first-year was feeling the ache in his lungs also. They needed to get out of there, back to an adult.

Mathias let out a cough into his sleeve, "Going to get you out of here,"\ he announced. That was likely the most assuring thing to come from his mouth this school year. Not that Pride was a brute, capable of manual labor, of man-handling the upperclassman but it was all he had.

Another cough with rattle his thin, lanky form. He would let out another, louder shout. "Something is wrong with the air!"

Mathias attempts to leave Room 4 with Selim, dragging if necessary to Room 2.

Interacting: @Bridget Collins | @Hjørdis Jensen | Another Stranger (@Kaegen Deathmote)
Mentioning: Santario Martin | Starlee Kennedy
Languages: _{English | French | Italian | Arabic | Russian}
Outfit

As Alexander explored the workshop, he could feel the hairs on his arms rising. There was something seriously wrong here. The whole room just felt off, unnatural. Then, to make matters far worse it began. The voices with no clear origin, speaking in uncertain terms. Speaking of mothers ? Fathers ? It was all unclear, yet Alexander's fingers trembled, and he rapidly looked around the room. Trying to see where the voices were coming from and whether they were creeping up on him.

Then he saw something move, Alexander jerked back and blinked. And then it was gone already. Had that been real or just his imagination? Was all of this real or just another product of whatever plagued his mind ? Regardless, he had to press on. Find out what was going on here.

Foolishly Alexander forgot a particular quote 'curiosity killed the cat' (And in this case satisfaction certainly wouldn't bring it back)

When he observed the kiln, Alexander stopped moving. For he was looking upon the sight of a horror movie. Decapitated barbie heads and other body parts. A sight that even without the atmosphere in this crazy workshop would be creepy. Yet now it created a far stronger reaction. He could feel a surge of cold spreading through his veins. A tight grip would establish itself around his heart, and he could feel his veins rapidly pulsing. Some measure of adrenaline spreading across his body.

But he had to move on, so Alexander grabbed some parts that he could investigate later. Cringing only the tiniest bit as his hands were stained with ash. Then he moved on to the creepy picture board, studying it in detail. He took a few pictures, then as he looked behind him for anything creeping on him he heard something in front of him. He looked forwards once more and saw that the board to which the pictures had been attached was falling over. No time to react, Alexander blocked his face with his arm and hand. Something which prevented his head from being damaged yet caused a bloody bruise and cut to make its way along his arm.

As an instinctive reaction Alexander slitently muttered a curse, then he heard something. Footsteps. Behind him. Had another student followed him ?

No, something else had.

He could not truly discern it's form, before a shape in the dark lunged at him. Grabbing him and BITING IN HIS ARM !!!! It also clawed at his chest but it BIT HIM IN HIS ARM !!!!

Alex tried to push it away, his quick reasoning abandoning him as he felt a true primal fear. Like an ape getting pounced on by a lion. His calm abandoned him. "GET OF ME, GET OF M-" Then as he screamed and pushed, his eyes widened as he saw how a shining metal object made its way towards him.

Then there was pain as he had never felt before. PAIN AS HE FELT THE NEEDLE GO THROUGH HIS LIPS. He felt flesh parting, and cold iron going past the various nerves and muscles that were in it's lips. Felt the tug and pull, the slight resistance and the salty and irony taste that that was rapidly filling his mouth. As he put his hand to try and pull the doll's hand away, a tiny part of it touching his lips, revealing a touch of crimson.

He tried to scream, and some tiny bit of sound came out. Yet mostly what it did was cause more pain. As the new thread was further tugged and his mouth could not open. Tears flowed down yet could not enter his mouth.

But the sensation did not end, the needle went in and out, flesh parted, mouth got tighter, in and out, the cold iron hit one of his teeth before going down. It did not stop, it continued with a rhythm. In and out. Like a metronome, a rapid rhythm. THE NEEDLE WENT IN AND OUT

IN AND OUT, IN AND OUT, IN AND OUT.
IT DID NOT STOP. THE PAIN, IT DID NOT STOP, IT DID NOT STOP.

THE

PAIN

DOES

NOT

STOP

A shape, it becomes clear.

A round shape approaches.

Was that..... a button ?

Then, it stops. Alexander does not know, what is going on ? The pain is still there, but nothing is getting pierced.

Then the button comes closer, goes on his eye, then his eye which is not covered sees a slight glint

IN AND OUT IT DOES NOT STOP, IN AND OUT IT DOES NOT STOP, IN AND OUT.


IT

DOES

NOT

STOP



Until........ it does

and there is






Nothing

Actions: Falling unconcious and acting as a horror movie character
Location: 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

[font=century gothic]INTERACTING WITH @Flash Holmwood | MENTIONING @Alexander Varellion | PROXIMITY TO @Koko Riddle[/font]

Did Evelynn regret her curiosity in the face of animate dolls coming out of the woodworks to attack them? Very possibly. Even from her position at the edge of the entrance, it was very clear that the boy--and she, now, by extension--had stumbled upon something rather remarkably curious; but she couldn't shake her growing unease. Disembodied chatter and giggles practically echoed around them from the shadows and unseen hiding places. How many of these morbid creations were there?! It was as though they had stumbled into some sort of twisted Brothers Grimm version of Anabelle.

Heart thumping louder and faster with every passing moment, Evelynn tried heroically not to give in to a rising sense of panic. The arrival of the doll fixed on her hadn't helped with that. It was bad enough that a needle-like grip dug into the arm she'd raised in defense of the doll's attack but then she saw the changes. It was subtle at first. A shift in the tint of the doll's hair. Copper. She couldn't even quite be certain that it wasn't simply a trick of the candlelight where it floated and danced nearby. But then its other features had begun to change, melding and morphing into something that looked eerily familiar.

"Flipendo!" Moved to action perhaps from a subconscious desire to be spared seeing the final result, Evelynn had shouted her spell just a little louder than she had meant to. "Argh!" she grunted a moment later as the... thing... was flung back, its fingers tearing from her arm and leaving streaks of red in their wake.

It stung, but a flex of her hand proved its retained function. That was enough for her for the moment. Not wanting to give the doll another moment, she stepped forward, gaze retrained upon it and ready to follow up with another cast. But it had hit against the desk and fallen limp to the floor. For now, at least. Still, its lifeless form was enough for her. As her unlikely companion quickly followed suit, she was forced to divert her attention once again. This time to the doll that was in the process of sewing his eyes closed with buttons. Her stomach flopped at the macabre scene, hairs standing on end as shivers racked up her spine.

"FLASH!" she called, hearing noise from down the hall. Not aware of the difficulties he himself was also facing, she only knew that she wanted his presences. Needed his support. "Help!" Then, she flicked her want, forcefully incanting, "Flipendo!", right before abandoning caution and rushing fully into the room towards the limp body, prepared to drag him out of harm's way if she had to. Just as she had with Mozor.

[font=century gothic]ACTION: Casting Flipendo at the doll attacking Alexander, and fully entering the kiln room[/font]

[font=century gothic]STA | 8‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‎ STR | 2‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‎ EVA | 10 WIS | 10‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‎ ‎ ARC | 2‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‎ ‎ ACC | 10 KEEN EYE — There is a 25% chance of automatically finding something. FEARLESS — Immunity to fear effects.[/font]

[font=century gothic] ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‎ INVENTORY ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‏‏‎ ‎ ‎ — Broom Compass — Sketched Map of Underground — Locksmith's Knife — Wizard's Tight — Magical Candles / Lighter — Flash's Invisibility Cloak — Bottle with blonde hair[/font]

Interacting | @Mathias Pride
Mentions | @Selim Faust | @Percival Rainwood

Before Ileen could actually enter the room with the rats she heard Mathia’s voice. Apparently he had found Selim. And something was wrong with the boy.
Ileen’s heart skipped a beat. Something is wrong. Why was she still standing here? She should help them!
Determined to help her two classmates, she gripped her chestnut wand tighter and was just about to storm forward as she heard another shout from Mathias. Something was wrong with the air.
Ileen’s eyes widened. Not only was she worried about the two boys. If something was wrong with the air after he had opened that door it could come for all of them.
The young girl fought the urge to sniff, trying to see if she could notice anything in the scent. She was an aspiring healer and not stupid.

So, instead, she held her breath, trying to spot Mathias and Selim. He was on the way to her, right? A simple plan formed in her head.
Step one, help get Mathias and Selim out of that room with the []wrong[/i] air. Step two, prevent the wrong air from proceeding to this area. Step three, look what she could do for Selim and other injured people. It was not about being the hero. She never had been in that role. Before, she had done those things to not become evil.
Now, she actually wanted to help those people. “Try not to breathe!” Well, they probably had been smart enough to figure that out by themselves.
As soon as Ileen spotted them she jumped to Mathias’ side, trying to get both boys out of this dangerous area. Hopefully Percival would help them because she was not really the physical type.

Action: Trying to help getting Mathias and Selim to Room 2
Ability: Sixth Sense, Prodigal Charms Learner
Stats: Sta:6 | Ev:8 | Str:3 | Wis:9 | Arc:6 | Acc:9
Location: Room 2