WEEK 1: CYOA (Alex, Blanca, Shiro, Sora)

[retellers]

Comments

[lionson]

[Welp. So much for listening in to help the other group. Shiro was going to feel guilty if someone heckin' died there.]

It looks like we have no choice. Let's stay close.

[If nothing else, maybe he could keep Blanca safe.

He will just walk in through the front door, though. No point in sneaking, not with that kind of an invitation. He's not purposefully loud or anything. But he makes no attempt to hide his movements.

He probably shouldn't be so cocky without his trusty shotgun.]

[retellers]

[ The manor has... clearly seen better days. That's the most obvious thing to notice as they step in. There's cobwebs and dust everywhere, the floors are caked in dirt, and everything creaks as they walk. The hall itself is mostly empty, save for a chair or two covered in a sheet that probably used to be white at some point in its life nearby.

From there, going with their direct field of vision, they have three options. There are two doors immediately obvious, one to the left and one to the right. The red carpet itself goes straight through the hall and up a wide set of stairs to the second floor. Part of the banisters for the stairs is broken and lies on the ground next to them. ]

[papasha]

[Oh great. Many rooms.

He pulls a bit away from Shiro to one of the walls as their approach the left and right door, and he motions Shiro toward the other wall opposite him. Doesn't matter which.

Even as a big guy, there's a trained way in which he leans flush against the wall with his back by one of the doors, stopped for a moment. He peers up the stairs, and frowns.]

It looks like someone fell. What would you like to do, Mister Fujimoto? Check these two, or continue up?

[lionson]

[RIP whoever fell, they will be missed. Maybe.]

We might as well check these ones first.

[He'll step to the left side, letting Blanca go to the right. And then he'll open his own door to peek in.]

[retellers]

[ The right room Blanca peers into seems to have been a music room of some kind. There are numerous stringed instruments in it, and all are arranged for practice. There is a cello, a violin, a harp and a viola next to some empty music stands. The chairs for all of these are as dusty as the instrument, and covered in a sheet as well. A grand piano and its accompanying bench is situated in the center of the room.

The left room Shiro looks at, meanwhile, seems to be a lounge. A few couch and chaises are covered in a dusty sheet. A sheet covers something in the shape of a very large table as well. There is a painting of a field hanging next to a fireplace filled with old, burnt wood. A fire poker is hanging over it. ]

[papasha]

[Who put all of Zia's AC instruments in this room?

Blanca calls to Shiro,] It's a music room, [as he's, like... going inside.

He thinks he can hopefully trust Shiro to be capable of handling whatever happens.

He'll look over the stringed instruments briefly to see what he can spot from a glance. But he'll stop at the grand piano, and

gently push down one of the high notes to see if it'll play? Well, if the cover is open.]

[lionson]

Watch out for any falling pianos.

[Might as well make a joke before it all goes to hell.

Time to go into spooky lounge room. He'll leave the sheet-covered table for the moment, and instead go over to the fireplace. Grab the poker, use the poker to pull the wood out of the fireplace to inspect it. It's old, but is it 'several days ago' old, or 'several months ago'? Also, anything weird about the painting?]

[retellers]

[ The instruments seem dusty, mostly. There's nothing immediately off about them that Blanca can see at a glance. The piano is out of tune something fierce, but it still plays! The note rings out into the room. The note rings out loud enough for Shiro to hear from where he is, especially with everything else so quiet.

Speaking of Shiro, he'll find that the wood is definitely on the side of "several months" old, and it crumbles in places when he pokes it with the stick. It looks like it was lit for a bit. The painting itself seems normal, if as dusty as the rest of the place. A lovely field. ]

[papasha]

[Hmmm.

Carefully, he goes back around the room to pull the sheets away from the chairs to see if anything is beneath them. And then he returns near the piano.

Does the piano have music on it? Or do any of the other instruments have music? If the lid of the piano isn't open already, he'll open it to have a peek inside.

Please don't jump scare him.]

[lionson]

[He's going to snicker to himself when he hears that piano key, because oh look he was right, there was a piano.

But that is very old, and Shiro makes a mental note of it. Then Shiro takes the poker with him and goes over to the table. Time to pull the cover off.]

[retellers]

[ The chairs... are in great condition! Apparently, all the rest of the manor needed was one big sheet. There's no music on the piano itself, but there are faded stickers on each note indicating which key is what. Nothing around the other instruments, either.

Inside the piano... is another piece of paper! This one reads "(3) Left, 23". Mysterious.

Shiro's table turns out to be a billiards table! It seems pretty intact, though none of the billiards ball or the cue seem anywhere near it. ]

[papasha]

[no please i'm so stupid

He will keep this paper! Is it... the only one?? The piano seat doesn't open, does it? I'm paranoid, so he is going to go see if he can look inside (throws dart) the cello for any other papers.]

Mister Fujimoto! [he calls across the hall, though, to check in.] How are you holding up? There was a note inside the piano!

See if you can find anything hidden!

[lionson]

[Missing cue and billiards balls, noted. Shiro is about to start looking for those, but then he hears the shout from Blanca.]

I'm fine over here! What's the note say?

[Yes, he is shouting back while checking out the billiards table for anything hidden. The pockets, the ball drop, the rack for cues, anything hidden in those places?]

[retellers]

[ The piano seat does not open, and no other instrument has a note, not even inside. It looks like for now, Blanca has found everything?

The white cue ball is in one of the pockets, but that's it. There's nothing else on or around the billiards table.

Also... The dads might not notice because of their shouting, but the creaking of the floors doesn't quite match only two people walking around. ]

[papasha]

[WELP.

He makes his way to the door and steps out into the hall to pause. Weird--the steps sound a bit off, but he isn't moving anymore, so when he listens... he can't tell yet.

His voice isn't quite as loud as before since he's closer.]

It says: parenthesis three Left comma twenty-three.

[There's a pause. Cre...aking...?]

...Do you hear that?

[lionson]

[He is taking that cueball, thanks. And he's taking the poker too and going up to the door. Time to find out what's out there. He's not sticking his head out or anything though, he's trying to stay just inside the room with most of his body hidden by the wall, so he can hopefully duck behind it if something actually does show up.

He'll see Blanca, and he nods as he holds a finger up to his mouth. Shh, danger is about.]

[retellers]

[ There doesn't seem to be anything there, but the creaking is definitely coming from the hall...? Now that they're quiet, though-- there's a sound that sounds eerily like a child's laughter coming from upstairs.

That's normal. ]

[papasha]

[He freezes in place and goes quiet, exchanging a glance with Shiro. The laugh doesn't scare him so much as worry him.

He again exchanges a look with Shiro, and then he motions toward the stairs.

Does he want him to go look? Are they going upstairs, or are they staying down here?]

[lionson]

[He nods his head, and he carefully steps out of the room and back into the hallway. But he holds up a finger again to his lips, silently going 'shhhh' as he carefully steps towards the stairs.

Whatever is up there, maybe they can get the jump on it.]

[retellers]

[ You know how Alex and Sora kept looking at the ceiling? Maybe Shiro and Blanca should've followed suit, because the one light source here was a very wide chandelier that, once either of them gets close to standing underneath it, falls with a very sudden snap, conveniently also plunging the area into darkness.

You're free to roll for dodge/damage or just decide whether they're fast enough, I'll be nice with my ceiling trap ]

[papasha]

[He just falls in line beside Shiro for the stairs, and GOD!! His head snaps up when he hears the first groans of the chandelier unraveling.

Shiro probably has good reflexes anyway, but Blanca is already trying to give Shiro a bit of a shove toward the opposite side of the hallway while he throws himself in the other direction.

The edges just barely catch the tail end of his feet and the bottom of his pants. He'll probably have some cuts, but it's definitely better than it landing right on top of him?]

Are you all right?

[lionson]

[Shiro does indeed have good reflexes, and he'll find himself pressed up against the wall as the chandelier crashes down. Luckily his skin is saved from injury thanks to his boots and thick wool cassock, but the same cannot be said of his clothes. He'll need to fix that later.]

Yeah, just peachy. Seems like we have a ghostly friend here.

[His mind is already running through bible verses for this type of a haunting, even though he knows said verses probably won't have any power here. Old habits die hard.]

How about you?

[retellers]

[ Now that the light has been turned off, it might be hard to see. Worry not, friends! There's a giggle again ... and writing and graffiti on the walls appear, casting a pale blue light on everything. There are cute drawings and happy faces in various shades of blue, and footprints on the ground leading up the stairs.

If they look at the rooms they left behind, there's writing on the doors as well. The lounge simply has a bunch of circles alongside a sad face, while the music room reads "FORGOT THE SONG". There's little hand prints on the chain of the broken chandelier.

The last thing they'll notice popping up in real time in front of them is writing, a little past the chandelier on the floor, starting with an arrow pointing up.

"COME ON!" ]

[papasha]

[Almost as soon as he is down, he is fluidly rolling back into a crouch, cautious.

He scans the dark, smiling weakly at the words.]

I guess we didn't play their little games.

[He stands and moves around the chandelier toward the stairs, waiting on Shiro.]

Looks like we're going up. Let's be more careful this time.

[lionson]

[Those ghostly drawings tho. Shiro can't help but smile at them.]

If its a kid, we'll have to play. Just keep an eye out for more traps, even kid ghosts can be dangerous.

[Time to go up the stairs! And he's actually looking up this time.]