In the middle of a shadowy and desolate forest, a lonely castle stands atop a crag. While its towering Gothic spires and bleak, dark walls present a foreboding appearance, tonight this castle will play host to a festive gathering involving characters of many strange and different natures from across many worlds.
But as the characters arrive for this party, they may find more than they might have been expecting. For the holiday is Halloween, and as the sun slowly sinks behind the trees and the shadows lengthen over the old castle, mysterious and spooky events will begin to occur, and the visitors will find themselves in for a Halloween night to remember...
Welcome to the latest installment of the Character Development Threads! These shared story exercises give you the opportunity to develop your characters, practice writing, and have fun alongside your fellow writers, no signups, profiles, or GM approval necessary. Want to join? If the thread's gotten long, there's no need to fear Archive Panic- just head on over to our discussion thread and say so, and we'll give you a recap of what's going on and good spots for working your characters into the thread; how you choose to do this is up to you. A little communication in endeavors such as these can go a long way towards having fun, helping others, getting that kink in your character worked out, getting your characters out of their comfort zone, or whatever you're here for, so if you ever have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to ask. We're all for helping each other out.
Character Halloween is a Halloween-themed casual thread. For those unfamiliar with the Character Development Threads, a casual thread is one primarily focused on character interaction; violence and physical conflict between characters are discouraged. Tonally, the thread is meant to be scary good fun: while it's Halloween-themed and spooky events are encouraged, they should be of a harmless nature rather than horror-based.
For more details, please see the trope page, which contains essential information about the thread. And feel free to stop by the CDT Discussion Thread.
I'd like to acknowledge the assistance of Crystal Glacia, Ryuhza, Night, Gault, Killer Clowns, Yomegami, Elfhunter, and Flowing Cotton, all of whom provided me with feedback during the planning of this thread.
- Current Time: 1:00 AM
- Current Weather: Dark and Clear
Thread maps:
Halloween has now ended.
edited 21st Feb '15 10:48:32 PM by nrjxll
[Outside Castle Doors (Oswald, Krajn)]
Krajn looked over Oswald once more to make sure he was all right - it wasn't as if she knew anything about the standard physiology of people like him - then sniffed the air again. Though it might have been her imagination, she thought it carried a slight ozoney tang to it, a thought that was reinforced by the sound of distant thunder again.
"I suppose we could stay out here until the storm arrives," she said, giving the clouds a critical look, "but that would be rather risky. Also, I'm given to understand that being forced to seek refuge inside a deserted castle by threatening weather is an extremely common horror trope among mammals. Not that I take such things too seriously, but still." And not that the castle was actually deserted, though in some ways she thought she'd probably like the idea better if it was.
Though there is safety in numbers and all that.
"I suppose," she continued, "the question is how much we're wanting to be risk-takers."
[Ballroom]
Harry had no idea who 'Hanna Barbera' was (not that he was going to admit it), but he got the general tropic reference, and chuckled nervously. It was a nice thought to think that the castle was the sort of exaggerated Halloweeny setting it seemed like because that was exactly what Old Man Jenkins or whoever wanted it to be.
And you know what, man? I'm going to go with that. Well, with something like that, anyway.
He looked around and flashed a grin. "Well, it's getting dark out, so I for one am in favor of just going ahead and getting this party started. I'm sure we can all blame me later if horrible monsters come out of the shadows and devour us."
Just then he heard the distant thunder, and chuckled again, this time more sincerely. "And speaking of getting dark, looks like it's also getting stormy..." Which I think is just a bit over the top, know what I mean?
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
Yes, edited 25th Nov '14 5:53:32 PM by nrjxll
Recon strode over to the door, doing a few lunges and stretched while eyeing the door in what could only be described as a comically menacing manner.
"Always nice to have some company. So, tell me, 'smashing a door into a million pieces' doesn't count as combat, right? I mean sure, we could just open it, but where's the fun in that?"
[Entrance Hall >> Hallway >> Ballroom]
I can't wait around all day for this quantum superposition of occupants to resolve - I'm already going to be late for my next delivery at this rate! the giant green centipede from before thought, I know I'm not really supposed to use the locator beam here, but I think this situation calls for it.
He then held up his tablet, as a green laser-like beam extended from it, through the doors to the hallway, and through the doors into the ballroom. There it made a couple squarish loops and sharp turns midair, before heading through the doors into the parlor, making one more sharp turn, and pointing directly at Kaguya with an arrow. Who I am assuming is still there.
Okay, at least I know where I'm going, the centipede thought, as he walked through the two sets of doors and into the ballroom, the laser light disappearing into his tablet as he walked, tracing its path.
Once entering the ballroom, he said, "don't mind me, just delivering a package."
Anyone who wants to comment on the beam or the centipede certainly can, but he'll be delivering the package pretty soon either way.
Danger: Intense gravimetric distortions nearby. Please reverse the polarity on your deflectors now.
Parlor
Kaguya hadn't moved much in the time since she first entered the parlor. She'd stopped looking around since at this point no one else had entered and it didn't look like anyone would be entering any time soon, and she hadn't seen anything else unusual either. While she still had her leg pulled up and still had her arms draped around it, she had slunk down into a more comfortable, half-lying down position.
In fact, she had gotten comfortable enough that she had fallen asleep, if the fact that her head was hanging down and her eyes were closed were any indication. As such she failed to notice the green arrow of light that pointed right at her for a moment or two, and would likely not notice anything else unless it was disruptive enough to rouse her.
Icon by Civvi the Civilian!
It's a bird.
[West Wing > Fear Room]
"What is it with you mortals and pointless violence?" said Moreena as she pushed the door open and entered the forbidden room. "Surely there's no need to..."
Why had everything gone quiet all of a sudden? Moreena turned around towards Recon, and came face to face with a solid brick wall. Most obvious trap she'd seen indeed. She scanned the room for an exit, but all she could see where solid walls. The room itself looked remarkably normal, with a large red carpet on the floor and an inviting fireplace on the far side. There was definitely something off about it though...
"The little goddess joins us at last."
A thousand voices, all unique and coming from different directions. Moreena knew who was speaking the instant she heard them. She tried to hide her fear, even though she knew it was pointless.
"The others are already here. Why don't you join them? Your sister misses you."
The creature was lying, obviously, but the comment still made Moreena furious. Her voice was still remarkably calm, though.
"You will die," she said, as if she was just stating the obvious.
"How could we die if Death has joined us?"
The room shook as if hit by a massive earthquake. Bricks fell out of the walls and large cracks appeared in the floor and ceiling. Outside the walls and beneath the floor, something moved.
"Join us little goddess..."
The room was, of course, still completely intact. The door had closed behind Moreena but was still unlocked. The goddess had collapsed on the carpet, twitching, crying thick black tears and occasionally mumbling a word or two in her native tongue.
I went with a crazy hallucination, but the room might do other things to other characters.
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
[Outside ~ Castle Exterior](Oswald, Krajn)
"Among mammals?" Oswald repeated, murmuring the words in confusion, although not in a way that necessarily begged for an answer.
He turned his eyes back towards the storm, a small smile curving at the edges of his mouth. "Well, I enjoy a good storm as much as the next set of eyes, and with shelter so nearby, it would seem a bit of a waste to duck inside so soon." he raised an outstretched hand slightly upward, wiggling his fingers, "I don't feel so much as a drizzle. The air is nice, the surroundings are peaceful, and we've still got a pocketful of daylight left." he nodded slowly, "So why not? Let's linger a while, enjoy this for as far as it goes. Although," he turned to face Krajn directly, "If you're ever feeling too cold, please, speak up. I wouldn't dare to push past your comfort level."
Sorry for the shortness. Not much to say, and I've got to sleep.
Recon huffed.
"Don't ya think it woulda been a good idea to go in together? Ah whatever. Hey, you alright in the-"
He entered the room, the door closing behind him. Once he was inside, his entire body went rigid, and he slumped to the floor, his eyes staring straight ahead.
NO ONE SUSPECTS THE LAMP!
[[West Wing]]
Michael gave Recon a thumbs-up when he mentioned the possibility of getting dismembered and said, “Sounds good. Better get to it, champ.”
He watched as Moreena entered the room and, shortly after, was followed by Recon. He thought he heard some kind of low mumbling when the latter opened the door, but he couldn't quite make out what was being said. He assumed Moreena was just talking to Recon, expecting him to be closer than he actually was.
A few seconds after the latter closed the door behind him, Michael said, “So, as long as we’re waiting," he turned to Nick, Adam and Marie, "where do you guys live?”
edited 26th Nov '14 7:16:52 AM by Elfhunter
If I knew how I know everything I know, I'd only be able to know half as much because my brain would be clogged up with where I know it from
Jolly Saint Nick
Warren leaned against the wall as he listened to Hei talk to the teenager trio, as he was now going to mentally call them. He was paying attention to what the others were saying, but also thought about what could possibly be going on behind that door.
Dakota started playing with her glove nervously, as she often did back home. She couldn't help it; something about the door started giving her the creeps. Maybe it was just the idea of people actually going in there that ruined the adventure idea and now made her deeply worried for them.
Happy Holidays to everyone! Have a great end of the year, and an even better 2015- you all deserve it!
[Outside Castle Exterior (Oswald, Krajn)]
Krajn decoupled the cloak from her smartcloth so she could adjust it more comfortably and sat down. She gave an internal whistle of dismay at Oswald's offer; the more self-aware part of her knew that she'd never be the first to complain now that the subject had been mentioned. Though actually, the chill wasn't as bad up here, probably because the castle blocked some of the wind.
She sat up a bit straighter at a distant howl sounded from the forest - probably some sort of indigenous animal, although she didn't know enough about Earth fauna to say what. Not that she cared, really; it certainly wouldn't be a danger to her.
Turning to Oswald, she tilted her head, thinking back to something she'd heard him say a little earlier. "Did you not know I was a reptile? Er, that is, a reptile in your terms?"
[Ballroom (Harry, Priss, centipede)]
Harry observed the departure of the masked man - whose name, he realized, he'd never actually heard - and Nel without much concern. "Looks like it's just you and me now," he said to Priss. He took care to avoid making it sound remotely flirty; while he could appreciate the design of her armor suit, his life lately had been a bit full-up on dangerous women. Plus she'd mentioned something earlier about a dead boyfriend, which was just all kinds of awkward waiting to happen.
Plus plus, I know older horror sims usually had people who did that sort of the thing be the first to wind up dead. That's mostly a pre-contact repression thing, but still.
"...And that, I guess," he added, observing the huge green insectoid making its way through the room without much of a reaction. Huh.
edited 26th Nov '14 12:23:29 PM by nrjxll
[Outside ~ Castle Exterior](Oswald, Krajn)
"Oh, that?" Oswald shook his head, walking slightly closer to where Krajn had seated herself. "Mmm... it's not so much that I was confused at your own taxonomic position—I admit I had my suspicions, but being non-native to this planet as you are, I refrained from drawing any concrete conclusions—but never mind that. I simply thought that it was odd of you to described that situation—the abandoned castle in the storm—as being a, ah... a horror trope common to mammals specifically. Or rather, why 'mammals' and not 'humans?' "
He turned to gesture at the castle, and at the distant mass of clouds, "A shelter is a shelter, is it not? And a storm a storm. Reptile or mammal, those things remain fixed as they are, don't they? And on top of that, I've never heard of a mammal on Earth other than humankind that would be intelligent enough—not to mentioned familiar enough with the culture of humans—to even recognize- or so much as grasp the concept of what a horror trope is, so to invite the whole of the mammalian class together to make that statement... well, it seems just a little strange to me. You understand."
edited 10th Mar '16 10:15:59 AM by Ryuhza
this place needs me here
[dining room]
"How's it going?" Henri briefly raised his hand in a wave. "I personally think we have a pretty good party going. It's warm and relatively well-lit, there's plenty of coffee, there's great company, and we even have a cat." Was it still there? He briefly looked down. "Did have a cat."
The more, the merrier, right? Definitely in a place like this- you could never have too many pairs of eyes.
"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."
[Outside Castle Exterior (Oswald, Krajn)]
Krajn tilted her head, confused. "What do you... oh. Ohh. I thought I had explained before..."
She paused, reassessed her thoughts, and continued "There are actually many known species of sophont where I come from, not just humans and qrtxians. I suppose... I suppose I have a tendency to clump the mammalian ones together as one group. They - you - do think similarly in some ways, and you're correct that some concepts are fairly universal. But I know qrtxian fiction doesn't share most of your horror tropes, so I thought this was one case where it would be appropriate to refer to mammals as a group separate from myself."
She hesitated. "That's... er. That isn't insulting to you, is it? Harry seems to find it annoying, but then he seems to find almost everything I do annoying, so I don't consider him an accurate sampling."
It's a bird.
[Fear Room]
With a chilling inhuman shriek, Moreena opened her eyes and rose from the floor. Her nails had become claws, longer and sharper than ever, her teeth were almost shark like, and her clothes and hair flailed wildly in unnatural wind currents. The room grew darker, and the air seemed to pulsate with almost visible hatred.
Moreena's voice, in contrast, was perfectly calm. A bit too calm in fact.
"I want to speak with the host now," she said.
When she noticed Recon laying on the carpet next to her, her features became slightly less terrifying. She knelt down beside him and touched his shoulder. He had apparently suffered the same fate as her.
"Wake up," she said. "We've got things to do."
edited 27th Nov '14 8:40:46 AM by Corvidae
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
PAINKILLER
[Dining Room]
Kommissar fully entered the room, and nodded towards Henri. Whoever this was appeared to be fully human- but not quite. There was something off about him. There was another boy there, who was fully human.
He expected people to be dressed as monsters, but he's seen nothing but the sort. Except maybe for Priss (although he assumed to be somewhat cybernetic) and this other person with Henri.
The man in the mask introduced himself. "Hallo, I am Herr Kommissar." He came to the table, and caught sight of the coffee. The aroma was enticing, although it would mean removing the mask.
There was an empty mug. He took hold of it and leaned against the table. He once again contemplated the coffee- but there was no harm in removing the lower part of the mask.
With one hand, he unhooked the latch that connected the top of the metal mask, and took the bottom half off. Usually he wears a balaclava underneath the mask, but he decided not to wear it that night. However, without it, it showed the right side of his face, which was littered with darkened scars. If it wasn't the mask that intimidated people, it was the grisly scars.
He set aside the bottom half, and poured some coffee into his cup. He then realized there was something odd that Henri mentioned. "...A cat you say?" Kommissar took a drink, and sighed. It tasted bitter but it was calming, and he was thankful for that. Whatever Henri was going to say would hopefully shock him less.
Life is hard, that's why no one survives.
It was disorienting to say the least. As soon as Moreena had touched Recon's still form, he suddenly appeared roughly five metres away from her, like frames taken out of a movie. His eyes were devoid of the laughter the death goddess had seen before, and instead were as cold and lifeless as a corpse's as he regarded her.
Some part of him could still sense hostility that filled the room. The satchel pack on his back unraveled, transforming into a grey plastic-like armour and a matching duster coat that reached down to the back of his knees.
However, he made no hostile moves towards Moreena. Rather, he seemed to be awaiting further orders from her, his head cocked like a curious dog's.
edited 27th Nov '14 12:55:24 PM by gameknight102xx
[Outside ~ Castle Exterior] (Oswald, Krajn)
Frowning thoughtfully, Oswald sat himself down a few feet away from Krajn. He puzzled in silence for a second or two before answering.
"Peculiar. Not offensive, no, but very peculiar. I suppose that it turns some of my own rather... well, rather long-held thoughts on their heads. That's always a little bit jarring isn't it?" He turned his eyes towards Krajn for a moment, and then away once more, then back at the alien. "I mean, is it not? Even from so far away, these creatures— these other mammals—somehow think like we here on Earth to the extent that they even share some of our same horror tropes... unless I've somehow misunderstood you?"
this place needs me here
It's a bird.
[Fear Room]
What was this now? The teleportation and sudden appearance of Recon's armor surprised Moreena, but it also explained his ability to sneak up on her earlier. It was both unexpected and a bit familiar...
"Are you a god?" she asked.
Still a great "screw depression" song even after seven years.
The future of warfare in UC.
[Ballroom]
"That...is a thing." Priss observed of the centipede. "I'm not quite ready to accept what it means, but it is definitely something that physically exists." Something about all those legs in motion at this scale was distinctly creepy to her.
She turned and stopped to frown at Harry. "Also, take off the kid gloves. I can literally hear you trying to edit your speech as you go. It's at least as annoying as whatever you're trying to avoid saying."
Nous restons ici.
Recon continued to stare at her, his head slowly rolling around to cock in the other direction. He blinked once, but seemed unwilling or unable to speak.
edited 27th Nov '14 2:07:44 PM by gameknight102xx
[Outside Castle Exterior]
Krajn bobbed her head up and down in a human-style nod. "As you said, there are quite a number of universal constants among sapient life. The drive to survive, the needs for food and reproduction... those traits shape the way we think. So the more physiological similarities there are between two species, the closer their thought models are. And it's the way we think that ultimately shapes our fiction. So of course there are often similarities, even if many of the details differ between cultures - zhrj, they do that even between different cultures of the same species!"
She was quiet for a moment after she finished speaking, thinking about something else Oswald had said. Then she spoke again. "I can certainly understand what you mean about... about turning long-standing thoughts on their heads." What a curious metaphor. "I've had some problems of that type myself. Preconceptions are hard to crack."
[Ballroom]
Harry winced, but quickly rallied. "Hey, it's not like most people just have straight-up unfiltered conversations. I mean, I'm a reporter," sort of, "and if there's one thing you learn quickly doing that it's that people are always watching what they say. So I'm not sure why it's so annoying coming from me."
Unless I'm totally bad at it. But you'd think someone else would have complained by now if that was true.
He held up his hands. "But hey, fine, if you want the unedited Harry, I'll do my best from now on."
He turned back to looking at the big centipede, partially as a distraction but also partially because it really was kind of gnarly. "Never seen an alien quite like that before. Looks a bit like a racnizeroth tunneler, but the limbs are all wrong."
The future of warfare in UC.
[Ballroom]
"No, they don't. It's not that you're editing at all, but it's that I can see you do it trying to avoid offending me about my dead boyfriend or whatever it is. Terrible thing to see the editor in action." Priss shrugged again. "He's been a dead a long time, and mourning's got an expiration date, y'know? Gotta worry about the living."
Priss raised an eyebrow. "Besides, for a reporter you're way too circumspect. Not nearly enough questions. Unless you're the desk announcer sort of reporter."
Nous restons ici.
I'd been waiting for a while for someone to call him out on that.
[Ballroom]
Harry scratched his neck. "Ow. Ow. Okay, that's a little accurate." Actually, together with the dead boyfriend thing, that's almost uncannily - or, dare I say, spookily accurate. "But I do still get to meet people, and some of them are pretty evasive."
A lot of them, given FII's rep.
"And sorry if I'm... I dunno, trying to tread too lightly around the dead boyfriend thing. I'm not really an expert on grief or anything to begin with, and like I said, I only got any experience with the whole violent death thing in the past few months." That part was a bit of an assumption, but he thought it was a pretty safe one given what Priss'd mentioned about how her particular shadowy employers had recruited her.
[Outside ~ Castle Exterior] (Oswald, Krajn)
"Mmhmm." Oswald nodded as well, "I suppose it's a struggle that all self aware life must come to. Perhaps all sentient life, on a lesser scale. Unless you believe that a living being can be omniscient, and even more: omniscient from the very first conscious thought that enters its massive brain."
He snorted a quiet, airy laugh, then raised himself off the ground briefly, swinging his tail to rest beneath his legs, before reclining onto his back in a similar fashion as he'd done near path at the hill's bottom.
"So long as one does eventually reach that turn in their head, I suppose it's nothing to be ashamed of. Although, the urge to resist comes strong. I suppose that too is in our nature, strangely enough. At least, in the nature of humankind." Oswald laid his hands upon his chest and sighed. "There's quite a long and storied history involving people who would rather try and bend the world around their ideas through brute force, rather than undergo a change themselves." he shifted his gaze to Krajn, "...Perhaps you have some familiarity with that as well?"
this place needs me here
[Ballroom -> Dining Room]
Kommissar nodded at Nel in acknowledgement. He was hoping for the robot hunter to join him, but this little ball of light will do. Nel seemed passionate about the investigation, so that was good enough for him. He gave a quick glance to the rest of the group, and turned away.
He had no idea where he was going, but no matter what, he had to start somewhere. At that point, anywhere was good enough for the bounty hunter.
The man at first searched the current area for doors- the set he came through, one large set opposite to it, and a couple of doors on the adjacent wall.
He walked across the floor, towards the opposite wall. His hunter's intuition told him so. Although the eerie enigma of the castle followed him suit. He tried to mentally shake it off, but it was no help. He looked over his shoulder and said to Nel, "We'll start through here."
Kommissar pushed the doors open, only to be met by a long table and high windows. A flash of distant lighting slightly illuminated the room for a moment. Mein Gott. I shouldn't be surprised. He thought.
Are there people in the dining room anymore? I don't think I've seen anyone post there for awhile.
Life is hard, that's why no one survives.