Adventure Log - October 31, 2024
The Halloween Museum of Horrors
On Halloween night, Luna exits out of the hallway and sits in the living room wearing a rather simple red and black tunic, cape, and skirt combo with a large poofy brimmed hat atop her head. One leg is covered in cloth bandages and the other is a long black thigh-high stocking. An eyepatch covers her left eye, but it seems to be for show instead of function. Luna strikes a pose almost appearing like she'll blast whoever comes in close with some kind of a magical EXPLOSION, but it's all for the sake of Halloween.
Hinata follows behind wearing what looks like yellow, white, and black themed armor befitting of a feminine knight. One of her shoulders seem to have wings attached. With a pose and the pulling out of her blade, she smiles wildly requesting all enemies to come at her! Hinata's usual blond mid-length hair is much longer and has some red braiding in her bangs. She is truly the light within the DARKNESS.
After playing around, they both sit on the couch while discussing their plans for the day. Considering the paper they're reading from, they have an idea where they're headed. As Halloween is today, the living room is decorated rather haphazardly with some decorations to bring them into the festive spirit. A jack-o-lantern carved out with a cat pawing at a crescent moon is on the coffee table and various streamers and cheap store-bought halloween decorations are strewn about in the room. A bowl of candies are over by the door, perhaps intended for handing out for trick-or-treating, as if anyone would let their kid go out into the woods to retrieve candy from the weird people house.
Spider enters the living room. Unlike their friends she's wearing a rather simple outfit consisting of jeans and a knitted and slightly torn black jumper with Error in a bag slung over her shoulder. She looks over the living room and then the pair commenting, "are we expecting someone?"
Luna looks up with a soft smile, "No, not exactly. We were gonna go back to our home World and check out this Halloween thing." She hands Spider a flyer with information about the exact quest line she intends to do. It takes place in Nova District, formerly Central District, and ends tonight. Costumes are apparently optional though encouraged. The event seems to be part haunted house and part escape room with fun challenges and offers a prize to whoever can get past the "Final Destination" room.
Hinata smiles while in her costume, "Oh hey. Wanna come with us?"
Spider raises an eyebrow surprised as she reads over the flyer, "It'll make my life easier so sure."
Hinata tilts her head in confusion at that remark, "huh? Did you already know about this? Oh wait, isn't there a Quest for this place?"
Luna gets up and snaps her fingers, swapping out her usual longsword for what looks like a polished wooden staff with a strange purple orb floating in the middle of the knot. It's not actually floating of course, as thin strings keeping the orb in place can be seen pretty easily. "Yeah Hinata. Someone wants to know what the FInal Destination room has."
Spider nods looking at the staff intrigued, "after the last one I thought I'd try another."
"Right on Spider. Are you ready to go?" Luna asks. Hinata stretches in place
"Absolutely." Spider grins and disappears in a flash of green sparks. Luna and Hinata follow right after.
A few minutes later, Spider, Hinata, and Luna find themselves on a very familiar square in the very heart of Capital City at night. Loads of people are out and about shopping and having a grand old time. There's a persistent though seemingly intangible groove in the air that gives Nova Square its nickname of "The Beat of Nova's Heart." You can't hear it. You can't see, feel, taste, or even touch it, but just by standing out here, you can sense some kind of music or a rhythm of some kind that permeates itself into the hearts of Nova District's citizens and workers.
The square has changed a little bit since they've been here nearly 6-7 months ago, possibly more. The clock tower still exists which also has that heartbeat intertwined into it. Directly across from it, however, is a massive skyscraper with Nova Heart's logo easily seen. It stretches up. Up into the heavens. So far up, you can't even begin to fathom how tall it is. It could stretch into space, it's impossible to tell.
To the east of the clock tower, shops and restaurants make their home. And to the west, shimmering in lasers, lights, pumpkins, and such decor is a building wrapped in black and orange. An animated sign above it states it to be "Nova District's New Haunted House - THE HAUNTED MUSEUM OF LEGENDS!" In all capital letters. It doesn't look like any museum you've ever seen though. It looks almost like a nightclub. In fact, this location is normally Nova District's Adventurer's Guild. That said, the line of people waiting to get inside is moving rather quickly. None of them see any leave however.
-----
Luna tilts her head, "so this is Nova's Guild then? Fancy. Remember when we worked here Hina?"
Hinata chuckles and pats Luna on the witch hat, "Hell yeah I do. We were the sexiest bartenders of all time."
Luna shakes her head and sighs, "nooooo you were. I waited tables remember? And didn't you hate when the men looked at you??"
Hinata sighs, "but the pretty women and enbies did tooooooooooooooo… They were hot.."
The trio goes to get in line as some people seem to take interest in Luna and Hinata's costumes and chat with them. Perhaps Spider could get more information? Lots of others are standing around. Notably, none of them see any Nova Heart employees running around. Maybe they're all in the skyscraper.
Spider looks around as the trio enter the queue a few people catching her eye. She decides to stay put for now commenting, "so where's the staff?"
Luna is quickly getting swallowed up in attention and her innate introversion is overwhelming her. "Aaaaaa can y'all let me breathe???"
Hinata rushes in and pulls her out of the crowd, "Y'all! Give my love some space damn you! You act like you've never seen a cosplayer before smh my fuckin head." Hinata is now the center of attention and is posing for pictures. One of the male bystanders chuckles at the display and speaks to Spider. They seem rather ordinary, somewhat chubby and mid-height, around 5'6". They definitely possess no Nova insignia, but they're also unable to stand still, seemingly dancing in place, "Oh those goons? Over there in Nova Tower. This is a fan run thing. For fans of horrors by fans of horror. Nova just helps fund it."
Spider looks away from the chaos and towards the stranger tilting her head as she looks over them and shrugs, "with this queue you'd think there'd be someone on crowd control."
The pair is busy posing for pics and they're so caught up that they haven't noticed the line moving rather quickly. The guy playfully smirks at Spider, "You're clearly new here, so lemme give ya the 5-0 (that means info apparently. He also means 4-1-1 but he's clearly not the brightest bulb in the box). Nova is still in charge of everything and they can see what we're doing from the tower. The Agency of Arcane Affairs Peacekeeping Sector [AAAPS], that's our police, is walking around the area. They’re those black suited people over there." Indeed, there are people in black suits witnessing everything wearing typical police badges and carrying what seem like strange wands in holsters instead of pistols. As it seems chaos is at a minimum, they're hanging back but also watching intently just in case.
He continues, "And lastly, there's an automated system that lets people in. It'll ask for your party size and team name, so you probably should get those two from the impromptu cosplay contest and figure out a name. Or you could just call yourself something boring like 'the gang' or something lol. Oh and by the way, name’s Jamie. Nice to meetcha."
Spider chuckles lightly, "Spider, and likewise." She glances back at Luna and Hinata, "I take it you're not that impressed by costumes?"
Jamie shrugs and shakes his head, "I'm not an otaku personally. Like yeah I'll watch anime here or there, but I ain't a huge fan of it like those guys over there. Personally, I'm more into cryptids and real horror and stuff like that. I love learning about monsters and shit and when they announced this year's Halloween dungeon was based on the Mythical Creatures of Legend, I knew this was gonna be the year it would be incredible. There's so much out there that most of us are never gonna experience, things that people both make up and then some things that are inevitably real. I wanna know more!"
Luna and Hinata are walking back to the line. Over in the distance, a few people are knocked out on the ground and Hinata smiles. "I told them they were getting too close. They should've listened to my warning~" she jokes in a sassy teasing voice. Luna adds giggling, "Yeah they probably just tripped and fell flat on their faces." Many of them are holding their groins and groaning in pain. The Peacekeepers are staying back, probably figuring those two cosplayers have it under control. A couple are cringing from the smackdown.
Spider grins her ears twitching in amusement, "it's based on the creatures of legend?"
Jamie goes to speak but then he notices Spider's ears twitching, "Yea-- wait, that's a really awesome costume Spider. I didn't know you could get prop ears like that. And yeah! Apparently the lore in this place is based on some book some guy wrote. I never read it myself."
Luna is not even paying attention and is instead fixing her costume. Hinata is grooving to the music playing in the background. It's got a nice thumpy beat, the same general 120bpm tempo as Nova's Heartbeat.
Spider laughs at Jamie's comment, "you can't." She thinks for a second as the part about the book nags at her, "you don't know the title?"
"Uhhh something like…” Some people wave Jamie down near the front of the queue, “Oh shit my group's up next. I gotta go. Good luck getting past Final Destination Spider!" Jamie leaves in a hurry.
The line eventually reaches the automated portion Jamie had mentioned prior. A computer kiosk asks for two pieces of information:
Party size. (2-4 people)
Party name (15 characters alloted)
What does Spider input?
"Uhh should we call ourselves The Gang?" Luna asks in thought. Hinata shrugs, "you choose Spider."
Spider enters '3' for the group size then glances around for Luna and Hinata to get their opinions.
Luna isn't feeling very creative today, "The... Gang?"
Hinata tilts her head and responds, "Uhhhhhh we did call ourselves The Rift at one point. But yeah the gang works too."
Spider chuckles and shakes her head entering 'THE GANG' into the kiosk.
The computer system accepts Spider's input without any issue. Then the double doors next to the input display opens up to a swirling black and blue portal. On the screen, the computer states: Please enter the portal. Please enjoy our Halloween Horrors.
Luna nods, "alright Gang, let's head in." She walks in and disappears.
Hinata follows, "oh hell yeah I love portal tech. Come on Spider!" she also disappears
Spider raises an eyebrow at the portal, still taken aback by what is considered normal in this world, then enters the portal.
-------
Luna, Hinata, and Spider find themselves in a dimmed enclosed room with a pair of double doors at the far end. It's reminiscent of a normal museum entrance hall. Some paintings on the walls show art of some of the specimens on display, though no names are included with any of them. They see paintings of a crimson firebird, a strange muscular man with a long white beard, a pitch black tarantula, and the full moon. Some soft though thumping music plays in the room at a comfortable volume.
In front of The Gang, a blue text box seems to fade in out of nowhere stating:
The music in the room changes to a more intense track, atmosphere growing with suspense. What did Sigmund mean by Malf causing the Magic to be active? Who is Malf? Is the adventure compromised? Or is it still just as safe. It has to be... right? The moon is right... RIGHT?? With the lights slowly changing from light to flickering and then to pitch darkness, the door slowly creaks open. On a table near the door, three green-glowing flashlights are available to explore the dungeon with.
Luna and Hinata immediately rush to the table to grab a couple flashlights and snap them on. Luna mutters, "is this part of the tour or did something happen?" Hinata seems to be nervous considering the worried whimpers coming from her and her completely still tail, a farcry from its usual waggy nature. Error seems to vibrate within the bat bag. It's possible even it is nervous.
The doors are open and Luna and Hinata head out with flashlight on. On a table next to a door, a florescent green flashlight is found. Blinking as her eyes get used to the darkness Spider reaches into the bag and pulls Error out then heads over to grab a torch slipping it into their pocket, "I'm sure it is."
Error seems to be calmed down while being held by Spider. The inscription, which glows a dim red, reads:
hm. im sensing something off in the distance... but i need to be closer to get a reading. keep your eyes peeled spider :)
Upon stepping out of the room, they find themselves in a dark forest with the chittering of fauna and a cool, calm breeze. They see in the trees spider webs being formed and covering many of the branches. By the sheer amount of them, it's clear something isn't right. Almost like this forest is overrun by spiders. The full moon peers over the group as they make their way through the forest. Luna sticks in close with Hinata looking and sounding extremely distressed, "fuuuuucking hell i hate spiders. why did it have to be spiders." Hinata shakes her head and sighs, "typical horror shit I guess. Boring."
Despite their surroundings, there's a clear path through the trees and it all seems to be leading somewhere.
The forest feels as uncannily real as when Spider fought Elara in The Cube. It's that familiar.
Much like that day Spider seems completely unbothered though she does tilt her head questioningly at the sheer amount of her namesake. As she adjusts her grip on Error she notices the inscription, frowning lightly she reads it then sniffs the air and heads down the path.
As they walk down further, the amount of trees and webs become more and more dense. The trio hears an announcement from Sigmund,
"ATTENTION. ATTENTION. You are currently walking through DREAM WEAVER'S domain. Keep your eyes peeled for a massive tarantula the size of a large SUV in your path. I do not know what it will do when it spots you, but you should probably run if you find it. I will create a path for you to escape if so. Be careful."
Luna tilts her head in confusion, "Wait, Anan?? But he's chill!" Hinata turns her whole head to Luna slowly, "Wait, you know them?" Luna sighs, "yeah, he's friends with Nautilus. But if the Magic of the Moon is in play, who knows what he'll do."
Error changes both its glow to red and a cone of light emits from the tip of the bat:
...yeah, i do sense it, but it's supposed to be fake right? i'm sensing a shard of legend... this might get serious, be careful :(
Spider's ears perk up as she reads the inscription, "stupid question but can you identify which one?"
Suddenly, the group hearing a rumbling from down the path. A couple of much smaller and rather adorable spiders with large blue and purple eyes scurry down the path, followed then by some larger more traditional spiders and tarantulas. A high pitched screaming is heard from the group.
With a more intense red glow, Spider's bat reads the following:
|
COL - 01: CODE NAME - "DREAM WEAVER" ANAN is the lord of the Dream Realm. The dreamer, who typically has nightmares of spiders or of its wrongdoings, is placed into its webs and is judged. All those ANAN do not feel worthy will be placed into a never-ending nightmare and be unable to awaken. No one has ever met ANAN in real life as it does not exist in the waking world. The only way to escape this never ending torment is to be saved by another Creature of Legend. ANAN fears NAUTILUS the most. |
It's a shard of Anan The Nightmare Spinner. Aaaaand it's closing in. You might want to run the other way... :(
So true bestie. From down the path, a massive SUV sized tarantula with beady red eyes rushes down through the forest and directly into the trio's direction. They hear from the announcements:
"WARNING WARNING! GO BACK. DREAM WEAVER IS RUSHING THROUGH IN SEARCH OF PREY. I'LL REOPEN THE DOOR!!"
Luna has already been running ever since the small cute ones with the blue and purple eyes had scurried out. Hinata was laughing at her, but now with the announcement, she is gone and back down the way they came. Oddly this Shard isn't a weapon. It's a replica of the original body. Sighing cause let's be honest this is just typical, Spider turns and runs keeping a tight grip on Error. They eventually get back to the door which is open. Luna and Hinata have already jumped through.
When Spider joins them, she'll find themselves in what seems like a log cabin. In the corner, a tall christmas tree decked out in lights and glitter and boxes galore on the bottom are found. A roaring fireplace keeps the room warm and comfortable. Outside, the weather is rather frightful as what seems like a snowstorm in the middle of the night is hitting the cabin and gusts of frigid wind shake the room.
Another announcement is played,
Erm. This isn't right. I was sure you'd return to my office. Anyway, this is where Wish Giver makes his home. Hopefully he's the jolly fellow he usually is... and isn't demanding sacrifice.
Luna raises an eyebrow and responds, "you mean Oloric Frostbeard? But he literally can't hurt a fly!" Hinata tilts her head at Luna, "where are you meeting the Creatures of Legend at?" Luna sighs, “with Riri last year. Remember??” "Ah, yeah. Right. I forgot about that," Hinata nods.
Error seems to have calmed down from the previous encounter, as has Luna and Hinata though their defenses are up.
Eyes flitting between the window and the fireplace, Spider takes a step towards the wall then looks around the room taking in their surroundings, "you remember this is a horror thing yeah? ..it makes sense why they're using the creatures now."
Luna nods in agreement, "Yeah I get it. The Creatures are basically unknown to most of Magickas's citizens, so reasonably, it could be fun to play around with the legends and corrupt them a bit."
They hear something on the roof of the building and climbing down. The lights in the room die down as a creature lands in the fire, snuffing it out. A tall skinny 'man' which looks closer to a demon of some kind crawls out of the fireplace. Its hood is up and the only defining features they're able to tell are a pair of crimson glowing eyes and large tendril-like claws flowing out of its sleeve. Its coat is reminiscent of Jolly St. Nick's, but everything else about it is wrong. The moon shines from a window near the fireplace and bathes the creature in white light.
It speaks in a growly whisper, "Ah yes. Your wishes shall be granted. I just require... a sacrifice… You will work, ahaha." It points at Hinata and she's pulled in by the creature as it stares into her soul. It does not blink.
Error shines its cone at the creature and the inscription reads:
WARNING WARNING: SHARD OF LEGEND. OLORIC FROSTBEARD - THE SAINT OF ICE AND SNOW.
CODENAME:WISHGIVER.
BUT IT'S WRONG. YOU MUST ESCAPE.
The door to the room opens up as Hinata slams her sword into the creature, breaking its concentration on her. The gifts in the room explode into fire, destroying the tree as the entire room, save for the door, is engulfed in flames. Luna picks Hinata up in a wedding carry and runs her into the door.
Spider had pressed herself against the wall as Oloric made his entrance. And as the room bursts into flame they bolt for the door not even taking the time to read Error in her haste.
Luna and Hinata both catch their breath from that last encounter. Luna groans, "What the fuck Nova? Oloric isn't even THAT skinny?? He's got some pudge to him plus he doesn't sacrifice people! Ever!" Hinata sighs in response, "It's horror, what did you expect? Actual dignity for our friends??? Anyway, Spider, are you hanging in there?"
The room they are now in is basically a blank warehouse about 200ft wide on all sides including vertical. The door they entered from is gone, disappeared without a trace, almost like it never existed in the first place. At the very end of the room is a glowing red translucent wall blocking one last door. This wall is strange, however. It almost acts like water. Ripples undulate and swirl atop its surface as if someone threw a rock into a whirlpool.
Spider's shard weapon glows red even more intensely than before and shines its cone in front, targetting the wall. Spider doesn't know how, or why, but she can sense Error's nervousness. Its inscription is now:
It can't be. Is this..??? D:
I need to get in closer to confirm! >:(
The narration from before continues:
"Oh good! Glad you've escaped WISH GIVER'S wrath successfully. You are on the final room of our tour, your FINAL DESTINATION. Behind the wall is your prize if you are able to snag it successfully. The only issue is the Creature of Legend standing before you. ERROR is blocking your path forward. Find a way to break through and the prize will be yours. If you cannot, I will create a portal back.
Best of luck, THE GANG.
AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!" and the audio cuts out.
Luna tilts her head at the wall completely and utterly shocked, "wait... what? That can't be! There's no way they got its shard???"
Spider takes a deep breath nodding at Hinata's question. The red glow catches her eye as a horrible feeling sinks into her stomach at the announcement, "it can't be ..right?"
Upon walking closer to the wall, Error scans it. It takes a few moments for it to register, or perhaps, Error is in genuine disbelief itself and cannot fathom the results. Regardless, the inscription changes to:
|
Soul Shard confirmed. COL 00 - CODENAME: "ERROR" MALF has no tangible form of its own though many have felt its presence within The Magickas and beyond its borders. Anytime someone experiences freezing, what seem like textures missing, the rewind or pausing of time, and other similar strange anomalies, it is nearly always MALF's fault. It's probably just because it's very bored. Aside from its trickery, MALF is like a God of The Magickas, one who fights to protect its citizens from those who would dare upset its balance. "The only way to defeat the blinding, deafening light of Order is with a little bit of Chaos!" |
Focusing on her mana, Luna looks over with red eyes herself, "That's... it's impossible! It's a Shard of Legend right??" Hinata pulls out her longsword and enters an offensive stance, prepared for combat. Luna points her staff at the wall and prepares a magic spell, muttering some words almost like she's in a trance.
The undulation of its surface becomes still. It doesn't seem to react to anyone's movements. What will you do? How do you get past a creature borne of chaos?
Spider. Try touching the bat to the wall. Luna, Hinata, cover us in case it attacks.
The pair seems to nod almost like they understood the instructions somehow. Hinata points her sword at the wall and Luna continues to prepare.
Unsure how to feel after what they just read, Spider looks down to the bat in her hands, takes a deep breath and then presses it to the wall. As Spider taps her Shard against the wall, the pattern changes to a more angry seeming mixture of colors. It seems to be rippling a bit faster.
Within their minds, the trio can hear a voice speak:
Who goes there?
Luna stares and doesn't respond, her focus solely on whatever spell she's preparing. What looks to be a glowing red sphere of magical energy is being summoned to her staff. It appears to be something much more powerful than anything she’s ever cast.
Hinata speaks, "We're The Gang. We just need to get past you so we can get this quest done."
yes hi we just need to get through here. pls don't fight us :)
The undulation becomes even more intense from Error's suggestion.
While having the bat pressed up, Spider notices that for a moment here or there, a gap in the wall is formed and then closed up. Perhaps there's a way to make the hole form for longer? Maybe a weakness in its armor.
Spider frowns, the gaps catching her interest she looks at the bat, "can you get us past?" She hen remembers that when she tapped the bat onto the wall, that's what caused the hole to form. So perhaps more force could mean more holes?
I can't do it on my own. :) I can counteract its magic, but I need your help :) Let's do this together partner!
Luna smiles brightly at the wall as a massive glowing ball of energy is floating at the top of her staff, "do it Spider! We'll help you get through! Explosion!"
Hinata nods while dancing in place, "Hell yeah let's beat Malf!!" Hinata then begins teleporting towards the wall and looks just about ready to slam a home run with her longsword.
Adjusting both her stance and grip on the bat, Spider nods and slams her weapon into the wall.
With a grin, Hinata slams her longsword into the wall as well. It appears to be enchanted with some of her own magic, which seems to negate Malf's a bit. With some holes in the wall, Malf attempts to close them back up, but Luna quickly launches fragments of her own explosive fire magic at the holes to keep them open and block attempts at resealing.
keep going :) we just need a big enough hole to get into the door! :)
Malf doesn't seem to be fighting back. In fact, judging by how the undulation of its wall is increasing in intensity, perhaps it's finding this fun? Or maybe it's just bored and wanted someone to play with it. Its reaction seems to relax Spider and the rest of The Gang as they aim more blows at the wall. It's less of an intense boss battle and more of a game for them.
Hinata is dancing like a goof but it seems to powerup her own strikes to the wall. Luna is giggling to herself and blocking the holes from being reformed, her own explosions causing holes to appear on the wall. A hole big enough to walk through is slowly being formed as it seems Malf isn't even fighting back anymore.
Everyone hears in their minds the same glitched voice that sounds like it was filtered through a hundred or more synthesizers. It doesn't hurt to hear its voice, but at the same time, they can understand it clearly:
Oh wooooooooow, thanks for playing with me!! i was so bored and everyone who came through here was either terrified of me or didn't even know how to talk :c here, lemme open the way forward. the prize is. uh. kinda lame honestly, but you'll see c:
heh :) i cant believe i have a brother. :)
Luna and Hinata return to normal as the door opens to the goal.
"You're welcome..Malf?" Spider glances down to the bat and chuckles adding, "you ready to go?"
Ready when you three are :)
The wall containing Malf returns to silence. Luna and Hinata are standing behind Spider waiting for the door to open. Everything is still and calmed down significantly. The golden door leading to the GOAL awaits. Spider adjusts her grip on Error uncomfortable with how ...still everything has become. Then she opens the door and steps through. As the trio walks in, they pretty easily see their prize. Aaaaaaaaand it's underwhelming. They see a screen above what looks like a translucent glass covering something on a table. On the screen, a letter to THE GANG by Sigmund Ferris can be read:
The cover above the book lifts off and it's exactly as the letter states: Its a 1/1 gold bound collectors edition of 'Legends of the Creatures of Legend' by Maximillian Solaire. Aside from the spine and the very fancy black signature from Max, it is just the book in question. It's probably worth some money to someone, or you could just keep it as a reference.
Luna looks disappointed, "We went through all of that, for a fucking book?" Hinata sighs and pats Luna on the head, "Could be worse, it could've been Stardust laden candy." The door leading outside is open. It appears to be daylight outside.
Spider frowns confused by the letter, she picks up her book and flicks through it voicing her thoughts, "He can't be dead."
It's the story of a seemingly fictional character, Sigmund Ferris, and his diary of archived information about the Creatures of Legend. It seems to be an updated version with more Creatures of Legends, but all of the information appears to be overly dramatized and nearly all about sacrifice and horror instead of actual fact. On the back page, Spider notices 'Legends of the Creatures of Legend' has won multiple awards in The Magickas for teen fiction, horror, and science fiction. On the front cover, Spider might notice another name next to Maximillian's, one Ashley Andromeda-Solaire, as it is dedicated to her.
Luna smiles to Spider, "Well we still have one more task to complete. We have to go to Solar Guild to show it to whoever requested." Hinata nods, "Let's do it now? Or we can head back and do it later. Up to you."
Spider tears her eyes away from the book looking over to the pair. She nods, "doing it now makes sense."
Luna nods and as soon as they step out of the room, she snaps her fingers and everyone disappears to the streets of Solar District