The Manor Darkly Is Not Enough - Maid RPG

Jessie slowly shakes her head. "They haven't been a problem, though I've heard of that happening to a couple of others. Maybe those things prefer their meals to be... a little more plump." She looks down at her underdeveloped cleavage as she says the last part, then looks back up so she can continue. "I fell into the old well."

"I can see that you're a bit busy, Berenice, so I'll fill in the details later if that's okay?" Okay; Berenice is wearing the spikes, Gemma's a cat girl, and Karina's a... vampire? Jessie tensed up at the thought of a vampire in the group, but quickly relaxed when she realized: Being a ghost means no body, and thus no blood to be taken. "Um, nice to meet all of you." She then nods in response to Karina's question, hoping that staying silent on it doesn't further embarrass the vampire maid.

"I'm glad it's finally quieted back down," Jessie adds. "The racket this afternoon and evening is enough to wake the dead." Then she asks, "What was that all about, anyway?"

edited 19th Feb '12 8:11:57 AM by 1jimbo10

Noticing the lack of fallout that she expected, Karina calmed down a little. See, nobody want to hurt you. ... Well, maybe except Gemma, but only a little.

Speaking about the catgirl, it seems she already found a new plaything, in the person of poor Jessie.

edited 18th Feb '12 3:24:17 PM by dragonfi

"It's actually pretty simple-" Gemma replied, suddenly standing behind Jessie with her arm draped over the translucent girl's shoulders, "-but there's someone who can explain it way better than we can! The Master has another maid that he trusts with very special duties..."

Grinning like the cat that ate the canary (then blamed it on the dog), Gemma pulled her cellphone and hit Suika's number on speed-dial. The mooks' plane should have landed in France by now, and any explanation that the delusional angel gave her would A) paint the Master in a totally righteous light, B) be nearly incomprehensible, and C) be delivered with the enthusiasm of a true zealot.

When Suika picked up Gemma chimed in before the other girl could speak. "Hey li'l birdie! Remind me again how great the Master is?" she commanded, before handing the phone to Jessie. If you forget, Suika is an angel who serves the master with the mistaken impression that he's one of the 'good guys.' She's a total Cloudcuckoolander and she's currently commanding the mooks in their hunt for Dan. You don't have to tell us what she says to Jessie, just show Jessie's reaction ^_^...

Witnessing Gemma's new scheme, Karina just stood there quietly, with a disapproving yet curious frown on her face, as she waited for the events to unfold.

edited 18th Feb '12 3:33:40 PM by dragonfi

Berenice kept her smirk under control as Gemma worked her "magic" - the girl was quick.

Watching the scene, she made a mental note not to go into that part of the garden any time soon... also to check the mortality rate of the previous maids.

It's not enough that Jessie's personal space is invaded by the cat girl Gemma, but said cat girl thrusts some kind of device towards her ear. As she gets hold of it with her own hand, she almost drops it in surprise as a girl's voice starts emanating from it; talking in an enthusiastic, yet incoherent, praise for His Supreme Darkness. Flabbergasted, Jessie could only listen as the voice rambles on, unable to get a word in edgewise.

After what seems like an eternity (actually, two minutes) of the incessant babbling, Jessie finally pulls the device from her ear. "Okay, I get it," she says as she thrusts the device back into Gemma's hands, the babbling still in progress. "It's not like I'm the only one in my family who worked at the mansion." Then she adds, "But that was terrible, Gemma, the way you did it. You set me up for that, didn't you?" She hears an enthusiastic "Sure did!" from right beside her as she feels a hand inch its way closer to her relatively small assets.

"Anyway, it's clear that... we're on the same side," Jessie acknowledges to the albino maid, (4 x Luck(3) = 12 to remain standing.) barely able to stay upright as she struggles in a vain attempt to push the cat girl off her. "And since I'm here, I... may as well help you any way I can."

"But first,... can I have some help with her, please?"

edited 20th Feb '12 8:09:20 AM by 1jimbo10

Letting Jessie shake her off with a final desperate shove, Gemma dropped to all fours and prowled back Berenice's way, leering speculatively at the ghost girl. Heh, maybe she's sharper than she looks...

Sitting back on her haunches, Gemma flicked her hood back and preened a bit, glancing from one maid to the next, before finally settling on Karina. "Well, if we're doing this, we ought to get you over the wall so you can guide Berenice," she noted. Moving up behind the vampiress once again, Gemma glanced at Jessie. "Can you turn down the 'glowy and transparent' bit?" she asked. "It's kinda eye-catching."

edited 22nd Feb '12 9:07:14 PM by Alhazred23

Feeling Gemma's self-serving intent, Karina put up her best fake smile (that doesn't meant much), trying to politely refuse her proposal.

"Thank you, but I'm good at climbing walls." — She explained in her wavering voice, then nervously turned around to face the wall (not a smart idea in the presence of the catgirl, but it couldn't be helped), attempting to find a good grip.

That is, she reached for the wall again, then stopped.

After a moment of silence, she turned back to Gemma, displaying a worried expression. — "Do you hear it?"

Seeing the catgirl's ears perking up was response enough. Still, it didn't took long until the sound of an approaching helicopter was clearly audible even for their audio-perceptually less gifted companions.

edited 23rd Feb '12 2:00:02 PM by dragonfi

Jessie is relieved that the cat girl got off of her, but tenses for a different reason when asked to tone her appearance down. "Are you sure, Gemma? I must warn you: Aside from entering and exiting the well, I'm not really that great at performing ghostly tricks yet." She rubs her rear end as she says the last part, more as a self-reminder of that than anything else.

Then the sound of an approaching copter catches the group's attention. "It sounds like a helicopter may be pulling in," Jessie states the obvious, trying to change the subject. "Think whoever's here could be expecting its arrival?"

edited 23rd Feb '12 8:06:02 PM by 1jimbo10

Berenice swore under her breath at the helicopter.

"Okay, stay low... and yeah, tune down the glowing." Berenice ordered, "Gemma, Karina - can one of you keep an eye on what's happening - nightsight and all that."

"I can keep watch!" Gemma chimed in from her position at the foot of the wall as she waited to give the others a leg up. Though Berenice couldn't see her, she could practically hear the grin in Gemma's voice. Then all of a sudden she could see it, as the catgirl pulled out her cellphone and the screen lit up her face with an eerie glow not unlike the one that illuminated the ghost standing on Berenice's other side.

Gemma fiddled with her phone for a few seconds, a look of concentration on her face. "Hmm... well, it's not Dan," she noted, "and it doesn't look like they know who he is either; looks like there's four maids up and about, including one I haven't seen before, and they're all rushing to the helipad." Stalker girl strikes again!

edited 26th Feb '12 7:30:26 PM by Alhazred23

Berenice managed not to jump out of her skin as Gemma's grin lit up quite literally. She was actually somewhat happy about that.

"Is there like, some sort of surplus in the household help industry?" Berenice muttered, "New employees egverywhere."

Raising her voice slightly, the albino looked up at the cat girl, "See where they head off to."

"All right. I'll try," Jessie says hesitantly, clasping her hands together and closing her eyes in attempt to focus on being less visible. (5 x Luck(3) = 15 to become invisible.) When she opens her eyes, she actually spots no trace of herself.

"I- I actually did it..." Jessie says softly, then louder as she starts to approach the others. "I actually- Ah!" The problem with being invisible: She can't even see herself. Unable to watch her footing, she trips on the edge of the grass and drops face-first onto the ground.

"That last part was terrible," Jessie says as she fades back to a slightly visible state, "But I actually pulled off my first real trick," she adds as she slowly rises back to her feet, still giddy about her personal accomplishment.

"Um, think we can still pull off our assignment, whatever it is?" Jessie then asks as she takes in the info Gemma just provided.

edited 27th Feb '12 8:58:23 AM by 1jimbo10

"Maybe," Gemma agreed with the ghost, still staring at her screen. "But we ought to get moving now while the're all at the opposite end of the building chattering away." The catgirl pressed a few buttons on her phone. "...Yeah, I don't think there's anyone else wandering around. They're all standing in the doorway of the Master suite, so we have a clear shot across the lawn if we hurry."

Berenice nodded in agreement.

"Okay girls - follow Gemma's lead and be as quiet as possible. Try not to be noticeable."

The irony of that command was not lost on the pink haired albino in the spiked dress with the stiletto heels. At all.

Not as if the others would be harder to spot. Jessie, while toned down, still radiated that otherwordly glow that only ghosts can do, and Karina... Well, let's just say that her large, silvery scythe, orange uniform and the MTX with it's shiny metal binders wasn't the most subtle gear for infiltration either.

Gemma was the only one who showed some promise in the stealth department. Actually, she did it too well, and that greatly unnerved Karina.

edited 29th Feb '12 8:26:19 AM by dragonfi

"Right," Jessie says. Let's see if I can... She moves up to the wall and starts to extend her hands to see if she can pass through it, (3 x Luck (3) = 9 to attempt intangibility) but they are stopped by the wall surface. "Terrible," she says with a disappointed tone of voice. "It was naive of me to think I can do two tricks simultaneously yet."

Jessie sighs as she looks up at the top of the wall. "Um, whoever's going over first, think you can hold at top long enough to help me up and over? I'm just not much into feats of strength like climbing."

edited 29th Feb '12 10:37:57 AM by 1jimbo10

Putting away her phone for a moment, Gemma stood and peered at the wall speculatively, then reached back into her cloak and pulled out a piece of chalk. Drawing a large circle on the wall, and within it a symbol that made your eyes water if you started at it for too long, she began mumbling under her breath.

The words were too faint to make out until she reached the end and declared in a dramatic stage whisper, "Hear me, oh great Multilingual One, and lend us one of your all-probing appendages to bear us over this obstacle!" Gemma rolls Cunning(4)*1=4 to summon and control The Licker from Many Angles.

Instantly the circle drawn on the wall seemed to collapse inward, revealing a portal to a very... pink realm beyond, every surface writhing frantically with long, wetly-glistening tongues. This seemed not to be the effect Gemma was hoping for, as she "Eep!"-ed in surprise and danced back a step right before several of said appendages lashed out and dragged her through to the other side, the portal closing behind her.

edited 29th Feb '12 12:04:14 PM by Alhazred23

After witnessing Gemma's "trick", Karina just stood there with blank eyes, trying hard to make any sense of the situation and the surge of emotions accompanying it. Terror, surprise, relief and even worry for the well-being of the catgirl.

"Berenice," — She caught the hand of the calm maid standing next to her. — "I.. I.. don't think I will ever get used to this." — She explained with tears sparkling in her eyes.

edited 1st Mar '12 7:03:59 AM by dragonfi

"Ah!" Jessie jumps back in shock as the portal Gemma summoned pulls her in. She then steps alongside Berenice and Karina. "Just when you think you've seen everything,... Something happens to change your expectations."

"I- Is Gemma... going to be all right?" Jessie then asks, trying to appear calm but the shakiness of her voice gives away her anxiety over what she just witnessed.

Berenice took a moment to react to what she had just seen.

WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!

However, on the outside she blinked and took a deep breath. This was the thing Gemma summoned regularly... so nothing bad was likely to happen to her.

"Gemma will be fine," the albino said with her most convincing smile - the same one she used whenever the Master asked whether he looked fat in whatever ridiculous get-up he was wearing. "The creatures she deals with are entirely benevolent - I'm sure she'll pop up again completely safe."

It looked like a tentacle monster... I think I'm more worried about what will happen to it.

Seeing how worried Karina looked, Berenice gave into the urge to hug her. "Today's just been weirder than most - you'll get better."

Clearing her throat, the albino looked to the ghost "If Gemma doesn't show up in a minute or so, we'll all get moving again."

Slightly less than a minute later Berenice's phone began to vibrate. Berenice has received a text message from Gemma. The first and last lines of the message are in unreadable runes of some sort that change whenever she looks at them. Gemma asks Berenice to find one of the summoning traps she's planted inside the mansion and set it off. Gemma doesn't remember where they all are, but she assures Berenice that they're all over the place, so they'll probably stumble on one eventually.

Karina wasn't sure that Berenice herself believed what she just said. Even if the albino's words were just to cheer her companions up, it still felt good. And it succeeded in the purpose of calming down the young vampire.

"Right," Jessie says as she calms down while starting back toward the wall. "Oh, that's right," she says as she gets to the wall, slowly shaking her head. "I've used the floating trick all the time to go in and out of the well, I almost forgot that it can be useful here as well. How terrible is that?"

"Um, forget I asked for assistance," Jessie says. "In fact, I may be able to help one of you over the wall. Which of you would like to try that?"

Berenice tucked her phone back into her pocket, as she looked to her companions - they seemed okay now.

Okay... summoning traps.

"Okay, girls - that was Gemma. She wants us to keep an eye out for summoning traps within the manor - so, we have to get in there." The pink-haired maid stated before turning to Jessie, "I'll try that. Karina, start climbing."

edited 2nd Mar '12 9:27:09 PM by StolenByFaeries