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Post by luscen on Nov 13, 2023 5:06:08 GMT -6
[CASMIR finds nothing of interest, apparently. Going back to the STATUE, he waits for JONES. While waiting, he asks the STATUE a question, then shines his flashlight up at the ceiling, weapon aimed upwards as well.]
Casmir carefully examined the area once he’d broke line of sight with the statue; if it was, in fact, some type of Super playing possum, he’d see it long before it could attack him, now. Provided it didn’t have some form of camouflage or teleportation…
Regardless, there was little of use in here; there didn’t seem to be any missing pieces of the statue, that he could find. It didn’t seem to react to any kind of stimuli, either. There were no cryptic clues, no out-of-place items, nothing that suggested this would help them get out. And aside from the odd scitter of a pest’s legs scraping across the floor, there was nothing in here besides the Hunter and the Agent. So how had that woman become petrified?
Casmir scowled- there were only three doors going into and out of this room that he could find, and he and his cohort had already entered one. There was no signs of a cursed object, and even if there had been, shouldn’t it have only petrified its victim, not damaged then? Furthermore, there had been no sound of an egress, and no way for a basilisk, cocatrice, or gorgon to have both turned a victim to stone, damage the limb, and gotten out of the room in the span of that scream. Even a swarm of bugs - if they’d had this ability all along - would have made noise skittering back to their holes.
Which meant that whatever it was that had done this was still here, lurking in the shadows, perhaps while finishing off a meal…
Casmir, pondering over this, made his way back to the center of the storeroom, to wait for Jones. If his search had come up empty as well, they’d have to risk the hallway and follow the others. While waiting, he stared again at the woman, bemused and irritable. “Why are you so familiar…?” He asked aloud. A thought struck him; keeping his sidearm ready, he angled his flashlight upwards, looking for any sign of danger hiding in the shadows above.
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Post by qhostqrowls on Nov 13, 2023 6:01:13 GMT -6
[Kail takes the Moonbone Blade, and exits the store, heading into Be Prepared to regroup with Moana and Sam]
Kail took a cautious step back when the lights dimmed, reaching instinctively for his hunting knife. But he’d seemed to have chosen correctly, and he grinned widely as the pedestal rose from the floor with a beautiful sword laying across it.
His fingers curled around the hilt, and he felt the weight of the blade, the power behind it, what he needed to use it for. To sever. He most certainly could do that. He closed his eyes momentarily at the odd shivering sensation, shaking off the feeling like a dog would shake off water.
With a swagger in his step, Kail exited the store, sword in hand. Be Prepared had been their next destination, and he all but ran into the store in his eagerness to show off his new prize.
“Check it ouuuuuut!!!” He whisper yelled when he caught sight of the two figures by the back, twirling the sword around with an extravagant flourish.
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Post by Pearl Dragon on Nov 13, 2023 19:55:22 GMT -6
[OOC-Venturing further into the storeroom, Stenson was happy to see at least two other doors available. He moved to a door near the northern end of the storeroom, checking a few crates as he moved quietly along to see if any would open easily without too much noise or effort.]
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Post by NightshadeVII on Nov 13, 2023 20:31:49 GMT -6
(OOC: Sam pockets a health bar and tells the group they need to head to The Locker or find a way to the third or first floor. Goes along with the route they decide on.)
In the silence of the store, Samael studied the map, committing every marked store to memory, before tucking the map away carefully. Assuming that the map was meant to lead them towards the items they needed to get out of here, it was almost laughable how close they had been to at least one of the stores. Now they had lost time to make up for.
Vaugely, he noticed Moana offering him something, glancing at the package. “Thank you”, he said, meaning it, before accepting the health bar without really thinking and pocketing it. Then he realized he would have to actually eat it and once more became uncomfortably aware of his… situation. The sensation of teeth, the confinement of a skull.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when Kail entered the store, alive, seemingly unharmed and swinging a sword around with all the enthusiasm of a kid that just found a cool-looking stick. Though, if the weapon’s unusual appearance was anything to go by, seemingly made of bone, it was probably the Blade his note had mentioned. One more step in the right direction. “Good. How much experience do you have with swords?”, Samael asked the young man after he was done waving it around.
“We need to head back to The Locker. Or find a way to the third or first floor”, Samael explained, “the items we need to get out of here will most likely be there.”
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Post by kilnarak on Nov 13, 2023 23:10:43 GMT -6
Moana eats one of the HEALTH+BARS and feels... better. Maybe she had been getting hungry, but the energy bar did make her feel better. Maybe even in top-form - or at least, as top-form as was possible in this place. She offers one of the bars to Samael and pockets the other two, saving them for later. While she finishes off the bar, she makes her way to the back, and tries the staff door there. She finds that it is unlocked and opens onto a dark hallway. The walls are riddled with bug holes, and sections of the floor as well, to the point that about midway down the hall there is a hole in the floor that stretches at least 5 feet across.
Kail strides confidently into Be Prepared while Moana is looking in the back hall, holding his new glowing sword proudly. He'd have to wait for her to step back out to impress her with it, as Samael probably isn't too impressed. The dullahan has pocketed the HEALTH+BAR and turned to regard Kail at his entry. Their next goal was The Locker, and then they needed to find their way upstairs, or perhaps downstairs. They had passed stairs earlier but who knew if they lead up or down. There were also the escalators they had passed, although the black sludge bleeding out from between the steps was certainly suspicious. There had even been elevators, although all they had passed sofar had been marked as out of service.
-
As Stenson and Casmir continued to linger in the storeroom, they feel an odd shift in the room. It's as if the world blurred for a moment, then abruptly focused back into place. But it was different now. There was something slick and black on the floor, and oozing from the crates and boxes cluttering the room. The boxes from Requiem Oddities were especially vile, near entirely covered in the black ichor. They could hear it dripping from the vicinity of the statue, and upon investigating they would find the figure entirely coated in black ichor, it's wounds oozing the stuff in great gouts onto the floor. With the shift in the room, the light leaking under the door has faded away.
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Post by Salandis on Nov 14, 2023 2:16:09 GMT -6
[Moana offers options to the others, gives Kail his health bar, then takes a harder look through for batteries]
Moana had been looking out in the dark staff hallway with the now omnipresent bugs when she heard a familiar voice out in the main store.
“Kail!” She ran out into the store, arms open, before noting Sam was still there and checking herself before offering a headlong hug. It really was a relief to see him alive again, given that he was the least uptight person she had otherwise found.
“Uh, cool sword!” She looked over the long blade with appreciation. “I guess that’s the blade we were supposed to be getting.”
She passed one of the health bars she had found to Kail. “I ate one and felt… better. I saved you one,” she grinned.
After hearing what Sam had to say she only nodded. “Well, we know where The Locker is, but going back might be difficult. Might be better going up or down – do you know the other stores? And maybe let me search here for more batteries first, then we can go – or I can catch up. The back door here is open.” She threw a wink at Kail and then started searching among the MREs. Surely one of these survival packs had to have a damn battery in it!
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Post by Pearl Dragon on Nov 14, 2023 16:28:50 GMT -6
[Stenson feels dizzy/blurry and assumes it might be a combo stress and hunger. He eats the Health+ bar, and then notices the black ichor after turning on his flashlight and shining it around. He makes his way back to Casmir, is grossed out by the strange statue, and notices a significant lack of red hue from where they'd come from. He urges Casmir to follow him back to the door, and makes to leave the way they'd come in while keeping the statue in his flashlight at least until they break line of sight with it.]
Stenson pulled at the tops of a few crates as he made his way to the northern door. He could remember the general layout of the staff halls outside of the door, and was sure that this door would only lead them back the way they'd come. At least, right out at where the floor had fallen through to some dark hole. No, they would need to wait out the light....
As he made to run a hand across the next crate's top, he pulled his hand away just in time to feel the room around him blur slightly. He blinked, wiping a sleeve across his face wondering if he might be dizzy from all the stress or hunger, and absently pulled out the Heath+ bar he'd found earlier. He had nearly forgotten he had it, and wondered if perhaps the sugar or protein from it might help. The wrapper pulled away easily enough, and Stenson ate the bar with little interest. Instead, his eyes were locked on the crate as he paused to eat, wondering at why the shadows at the edges and cracks of the crate were suddenly much....darker....
Finishing the bar, Stenson pulled the small flashlight from his pocket and aimed it towards the crate. It had to be his eyes, right? Perhaps he was indeed dizzy or sick, either from stress, the slight knot in his stomach that would hopefully be cushioned by the health bar, or otherwise. But as his light fell on the crate, he felt his stomach lurch for a moment when he noticed the black ichor substance now leaking from the crate. Shining the light around and moving back the way he'd come, Stenson quickly met back up with the Hunter.
"I think we might have a problem..." he whispered quietly to the other, still shining his light around at the crates now oozing the strange black substance. As he followed the hunter's gaze, his flashlight fell next on the statue, and his face twisted in what could only be discerned as disgust and confusion. What on earth was that? He supposed that was the source of the hunter's investigation, but whatever it had looked like before, he could only assume this oily black version might be new.
There was something else though....a lack of red on or around the door at the wall they'd come in at.
"The light!" Stenson hissed, nudging the hunter and pointing back the way they'd come. There was no sign of any reddish hue. "We can get out, let's move." He kept the flashlight on the statue at least until the two had rounded a stack of crates, careful to step around them without touching the disgusting black ooze on the floor or surfaces, and made a b-line for the door they'd originally come in at.
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Post by qhostqrowls on Nov 14, 2023 20:43:03 GMT -6
[Kail attempts to jump the hole]
Kails grin stretched ear-to-ear, and he brandished the sword proudly as Moana approached.
“Hey, thanks!” He took the proffered health bar, unwrapping it immediately to take a large bite.
“None, but I got this.” He replied through a mouthful of food, waving a hand dismissively at Samuel and meandering to the staff entrance.
He stepped through, cursing when he saw the hole. But it wasn’t that large, and he was emboldened by his streak of luck.
”I’m gonna jump this, it ain’t that big. I’ll leave my stuff on this side, chuck it over once I make it.”
He dropped his bag, and placed the sword carefully down. He backed up until his back was inches from the wall, shook out his limbs, and then made a run for the hole, wanting to have enough speed to clear it.
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Post by NightshadeVII on Nov 14, 2023 21:34:08 GMT -6
(OOC: Sam looks through the store for something that could be a makshift bridge over the hole, just in case. If Kail makes it, he’ll toss his stuff over the gap for him.)
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Post by kilnarak on Nov 15, 2023 14:46:39 GMT -6
Stenson does feel better after eating the HEALTH+BAR, a little clearer and a little more energized. As he regrouped with Casmir, he noticed the black ichor on the floor, squelching with each of his steps moving through it. It would make it hard to run, if he needed to run. He hoped he wouldn't need to run.
When he noticed that the red light seemed to be gone, he urged Casmir to follow him out of the room. He picked his way as carefully as he could back through the oozing boxes to the door and out into the staff hall. The only light in the hall now was that of his flashlight. He looked back up the hall toward where the light had been, but saw nothing untoward in that direction, then back toward where they had been heading. His flashlight passed over the stairwell door with it's strange black coating and as it passed over the black substance, he noticed that the stuff became shiny and then began to flake, bits of matter flaking off and drifting away.
-
Kail accepts the HEALTH+BAR that Moana offered him, immediately unwrapping it and taking a big bite. It was good, for an energy bar. He already felt like he was in good condition, not even stressed anymore after he had gotten the sword. He felt hyped. While Moana looked for batteries, Kail strode into the staff hall and eyed the hole in the floor like it was a challenge. He set his things on the floor, then took a running leap - no big deal, he cleared the hole easily. He felt puffed up and energized, like nothing could bring him down. Confidently he strode down the hall and the first door he tried opened readily at his touch into... more dark staff hallway. Still, he was making some progress wasn't he? He tried the other two doors in this hallway for good measure, but found them both locked. He could pick them to make it easier for the others to follow...? The jump hadn't been hard for him, but he had left his things on the other side. He could also explore the new hallway, instead, but it was dark and he felt just a touch less confident without his sword...
As he is considering what to do, he hears a heavy *THUD* and *CLANK* in the hall behind him and he turns to find that Samael has tossed his pack and sword across for him.
That done, Samael heads back into the store to look for things to use to bridge the gap, while Moana searches for batteries. After a bit of scrounging, Moana finds some flashlights and tries screwing one open to find that there is a battery in it that she can take. Sam, meanwhile, is having less luck finding anything to bridge the gap. There is heavy-duty nylon rope, at least - that would make it easier, if someone fell, they could be hauled back up...
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Post by Pearl Dragon on Nov 15, 2023 19:22:53 GMT -6
[Stenson tries to scrape as much guck off as possible, and then finds the stairs. He notices the black shell flaking off and decides to head up once the path was clear.]
Once back in the hallway, Stenson scraped and pulled his shoes across the floor, trying to get the muck off of them. The ooze had drenched way more of the floor than he could avoid, and now he just wanted it off. Once he was satisfied, hoping that would be enough, he made his way down the now-dark hall. His flashlight passed over the empty walls and floor, and traced towards a stairwell. He hadn't noticed it before, but it was apparent why. It was almost as dark as the shadows themselves, although he noticed something peculiar. The moment the light touched it, it began to flake.
With no idea where the others had gone, he could only suppose further forward, Stenson wondered if this might be a new route. For all he knew, they might've gone this way as well...
Moving towards them, Stenson began to ascend the stairs as soon as the shadowy shell had flaked off enough to walk.
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Post by luscen on Nov 15, 2023 21:28:19 GMT -6
[OOC: Casmir follows STEN out to the hallway, unsettled by the sudden appearance of black ichor. He helps STEN clear off the black goo from the stairwell door with their flashlights, in case they need to pass through there, later. He warns STEN not to follow the stairs, pointing north and guessing the others went that way. He then heads north to try and regroup with KAIL, MOANA, and SAM.]
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Post by Salandis on Nov 16, 2023 1:54:28 GMT -6
[Moana throws her stuff over the hole and makes a jump to join Kail]
Moana slipped the extra battery into her backpack. Next shot she would have to pull and replace the batteries, so with any luck she would only need to shoot the once. She returned to the staff room hallway, passing Sam who had come back for rope. Kail had made the jump handily, with his equipment neatly thrown to the other side.
"Well, it's a smaller jump than the one I was looking at earlier," Moana mused out loud. "Probably doable, right?" With Kail already over on the other side she hefted her bag over the gap, more carefully and separately throwing the plasma torch. When Sam came back with the rope she tied it around herself with a smile. "If I don't make this and you can't pull me up, don't get pulled down," she cautioned. "Once I'm over there with Kail we can both pull from the other end."
Honestly it might be an idea to let him drop, but... well, he had been acting more normally recently. Maybe he wasn't going crazy after all.
As Kail had done beforehand, she set herself towards the end of the corridor and made a run at the gap to jump as far as she could. She might overshoot by a lot and look stupid, but that would be far better than falling into whatever horrible darkness lurked below.
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Post by NightshadeVII on Nov 16, 2023 4:04:13 GMT -6
(OOC: Sam holds on to the rope as Moana jumps, ready to pull her up if need be. If Moana makes it, he too will throw his stuff over and jump, if she doesn’t make the jump, he of course won’t do that, he’s not that dumb.)
Samael wasn’t disappointed when he didn’t find anything to bridge the gap in the store. It had been a reoccurring theme in this place - there was always just enough to scrape by or improvise solutions, but never enough to avoid risks entirely. But still, a rope was better than nothing, and he would take what he could get.
Samael nodded in understanding. “Of course”, he replied, then with something that might be humor, he added, “don’t fall.” He probably would be able to pull her up with the rope if need be, but considering the size of the gap, it hopefully wouldn’t be necessary. While Moana prepared to jump, Samael stood ready to brace himself, to provide counterweight if she needed to be pulled up. For a brief moment he wondered if there was another way around the gap, if they were just choosing the most flashy and risky option because it was the first that presented itself. But they couldn’t waste time or resources searching everywhere, when every room has the potential to kill them.
Moana jumped and if she made it, Samael would follow after, using the same method as the others, backing up against the far wall and running to gain momentum. Of course, he would wait until he was sure Moana made it over securely before tossing his things over and then jumping himself.
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Post by qhostqrowls on Nov 16, 2023 6:53:18 GMT -6
[Kail will help Moana hold the rope attached to Samuel. After, he will go through the unlocked door and try to open the door to the right]
Kail slung the backpack over his shoulder, feeling a touch more assured with the sword back in his hand. He backed up so there was plenty of space for Moana, shifting from foot to foot impatiently.
“Yeah, easy. You got this. Piece of cake.” He encouraged. It really wasn’t a big jump, but better to overshoot than fall short.
He was ready to steady Moana when she made it over, and then hold any ropes attached to Samuel. Possessed or not, he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders. And if they ran into trouble, having someone to sacrifice wouldn’t hurt.
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