Spooktober Spooktacular MMXIX

[Morty]

[Fourth Floor- Dragons and Crocodiles]

"Sobek... I don't think I've heard of him," Brinika admits. "But sneaking off to have some fun on Spooktober is okay. You can't have a grown-up hovering above you all day."

[Felandria]

"YAY! Candy! Thank you Scarlet Witch!" Magic_Hat says. He could have used another name for her, but he's smart enough to know to not bite the hand that feeds you.

Felandria beams with delight that her costume was correctly recognized.

You’re quite welcome.

She casually pops a Rolo in her mouth.

Enjoying the party?

[Deathkeeper]

[Fourth Floor]

Nak shakes his head.
"No. Daddy is a god of rivers. Because crocs live in rivers. We don't live in deserts. Except High Priest Krokorok. He's a ground-type. So he might be from a desert." Nak says matter-of-factly.
"He's a very great god though, if you need something involving water or crocodiles. Which I guess isn't as big a deal for you as it is me."

[Earl of Purple]

Fourth Floor- Dragons and Crocodiles

"My religious education wasn't... the best. But I already kinda worship Civvy. I'll keep Sobek in mind though, if I need rivers or crocodiles." Cheasadh nods vigorously, sending the tassels of the costume bobbing and flapping in the air.

[Reinholdt]

[Spooky Children]

The Candy Vampire's room is festively decorated for a vampire and even has a big fake coffin in the middle of the room. But probably doesn't explain much about the life of a candy vampire.

The Candy Vampire 'recoils' from the wasted garlic bread and doubly so from the shiny spiderbot, hamming it up entirely for the children as if he were actually even remotely vulnerable to any of their attacks. "Vait, vait! You vin. I vill-"

At this moment, tendrils of pure shadowy darkness rise up from the floor surrounding the Candy Vampire and wrap around him tightly. Sasha stares at him, the little shadow monster not particularly moving, but clearly nonetheless manipulating the tendrils of the void. "S-stop. I-I surrender already. You vin." But it doesn't stop. Rather, he starts getting pulled down, sucked into the ground like it were an ocean or quicksand. The Candy Vampire clearly struggles, parts of his costume coming loose to reveal the metal robot beneath as his accent falls away into pure terror. "No. NO! WAIT. HELP! HELP! NOOO-" His scream cuts short as one last tendril wraps around his face and yanks it into the ground, the last of the Candy Vampire disappearing entirely.

For a moment it might even seem like it would stay that way, when a few seconds later, the Candy Vampire reappears, pushed out of the darkness by an unseen force and wailing in terror. Never before has a robot so thoroughly experienced fear than in that shadowy realm. "IT'S YOURS!" He shouts, tossing the ultimate candy bar at them. "TAKE IT. TAKE IT ALL! TREATS! TREATS! TREATS!" The Candy Vampire reaches beside the door and gathers all ten ultimate candy bars, scattering them in the children's direction before slamming the door shut, repeating treats over and over and over again. Never again will he ask for tricks.

Most candy bars are appropriately sized for a single treat. Sometimes you want to indulge and pick up the king sized and those are probably still alright for one person to have on an irregular basis. Then there's the big old Share size that are clearly jokes, but you could get away with having two, even three people splitting one. These candy bars are three times the size of share size and probably half as big as any one of these kids, if not bigger. They definitely don't fit in the bucket.

Spooky job well done! Though Sasha isn't sure how she feels about getting hit in the face by one of those candy bars. Ow.

[Fifth Floor]

If Sekhmet and Nadas listen carefully, they can hear the growing sounds of something scraping the floor, and that of chains being dragged. The speakers come alive once more, but the voice on the other end is quite different, though incredibly familiar. "You know, this floor was designed to spook the brave and unspookable. But it was always supposed to be well designed, harmless fun." The sounds are getting louder now and definitely more clear. The scraping sound is probably something sharp and metal and heavy.

"That was, until two pieces of offal came down here. Hideous demonic filth stupid enough to come to my party and wander off to the one place where there are no witnesses." By now, if they haven't hidden or started making their way to one of the other exits from this room, they'll see the silhouette of a female figure in that far doorway that Nadas had a bad feeling about. Through the fog a gentle purple glow will reveal the hefty executioner's axe being dragged in one hand and chains in the other. "I hope you took a moment to savor your last sunset."

[billtodamax]

Pirate/Mummy/Frankenstein

Oh, oh god, sorry. Of course. The skeleton costume is quite nice too. Nigel's never going to get used to all the different things that are apparently sentient. And sorry, you said the father was a Lord? He's rattled. I didn't know she was nobility. Do I... should I bow? If I see her? He asks, concerned. Nigel you are a wreck.

Spooky Children

Olon and Endok collect a candy bar each. Hooray! Good job everyone. Olon says. It's a good thing we had all that garlic bread. I think that's what ended up doing it. Olon says confidently, hoisting her candy bar up on her shoulder. Nuh-uh! It was totally Geshud. Endok says. He turns to the Margrave and whispers: I think the spider looks like a Geshud.

This is actually only our kid's second year. They went out last year to... Rath trails off as Sasha... does her thing. You wouldn't happen to have a crossbow on you, would you? Just uh... just in case?

[Recaiden]

[Spooky Children]

"Do you think maybe we tricked him too much?" wonders the other vampire, catching his ultimate candy bar.
"That was awesome!" exclaims the Margrave to Sasha, setting down her bucket for a moment to pick up two candy bars and dance around with them. "Yeah, it was totally little Geshud who scared him in the end." She shifts to barely holding the candy over her one shoulder so that she can pat the spiderbot for a job well done.
The mummy kind of smiles behind the bandages. "I don't actually like chocolate, so you guys can have mine."

Crossbow? Omiko wonders.
A crossbow is an ancient ranged weapon that uses elastic tension to propel a sharp-tipped rod. It was developed on homeworld and was important in the-
Thanks Dot, that's enough. Schematics?
"I didn't bring my weapons to a party like this. But here."
Omiko taps her fingernails together and quickly 3D-prints a crossbow of bone and black crystal. She hands the weapon and its bolts to Rath. It's not dwarven craftsmanship, but it does represent quite a bit of human precision engineering. Every shining surface proclaims the glory of the suns.
"That normally doesn't happen with her, huh?"

[Fifth Floor]

"Actually this is a pretty standard dark elf basement." Nadas muses. "And you mean 'when'. When we get out of here."
Perhaps its just the adrenaline of fleeing and escaping a giant spiderborg, but he's feeling a little better about things.

"Ilpholin, don't be silly. First, your guests are missing you. Second, this is clearly an angel. Look at her halo. Third, sunsets suck."
He points his sword towards the approaching executioner, but mostly he's waiting. Maybe they can get out of here with just words and well-timed running.

[bc56]

Fifth Floor

"We haven't even done anything wrong! I didn't choose to be like this! What gives you the right to decide we should die?" The threat angers Sekhmet. It's not her first run-in with racists and it hopefully won't be her last. At the same time, she tries to innocuously point to the door on her left with her tail. The last thing they need is to be separated right now.

[Reinholdt]

[Spooky Children]

Sasha nods respectfully to Geshud who now trembles ever so slightly in her presence. She doesn't pick up any of the candy bars either which leaves six of them just scattered about, waiting for some lucky kid who doesn't need to trick anyone to get them.

[Fifth Floor]

"What gives you the right to decide we should die?"

"My axe," Ilpholin replies, leaping into the air with startling speed and strength. She spins through it, flipping around at a dizzying pace with the chain and axe providing an effective barrier against counter attacks before she attempts to land next to where Nadas is, looking to cleave him in two with the silver-coated blade of the hefty weapon with a single overhead strike.

Ilpholin apparently doesn't intend to mince words with amoral degenerates who seek to twist and confuse the truth to their benefit. Nadas has had his chance and giving her brother that much last time was a mistake. Giving any of them that much is a mistake. Demons Must Die.

[Morty]

[Fourth Floor- Dragons and Crocodiles]

"Yeah, I don't... know a lot about rivers or crocodiles," Brinika admits. "We've got some lizards in the colony that kinda look like crocodiles a bit, though. But they don't live in rivers. I'm not sure anything does live there," she adds. "Let's go get some candy."

[Magic_Hat]

Felandria beams with delight that her costume was correctly recognized.

You’re quite welcome.

She casually pops a Rolo in her mouth.

Enjoying the party?

"I came for the candy! And also possible secret, buried treasure."

[billtodamax]

Spooky Children

Oh, hey! You have to take one too! Olon says, hoisting another candybar up (wow these are heavy) and handing it to Sasha.That was the whole point. I think it's fine. The wolfman said to trick him. Endok tells the vampire. He'll happily hold Geshud for pets. I give Ilpholin about a 30% chance to actually get the robot back. Come on let's go sit down and eat. Olon says, heading back toward the little tables with her haul.

Rath hefts the crossbow a few times to check for weight. A bit light. Weird material but it seems strong enough. She isn't my kid, my kids just invited her along. Lives at GLoG I think. She says, resting the crossbow nonchalantly over her shoulder.

[Recaiden]

[Fifth Floor]

"Come on, Ilpholin. You want to kill me, that's one thing. I'm how old now? But she's just a kid. Doesn't she deserve a chance?"
With one hand, Nadas whips off his costume mask and glove. Can't have those things getting in the way, though it would be a shame to lose them here. He thought it was a great costume.
With his other, he brandishes his sword overhead, and the weapon's glow turns from devil-warning white to bright red, then crackles outward and solidifies as a robed warrior made entirely of that red light. The light-being steps right in front of Nadas and lifts his two punching daggers to block the swing of the axe.

Nadas himself steps back and a bit to the left, keeping his sword in a guarding posture. If he were better at this he would already be casting a spell to destroy Ilpholin at the same time, but he's not, and not-getting-axe-murdered is the highest priority in a fight.

[Spooky Children]

Can spider-bots feel fear?

If Sasha is just going to leave candy lying around, the Margrave is going to take a third ultimate candy bar, and then stagger over to the tables with them. "Oof". That's far too much candy for one child.
"So who are you guys?" asks the vampire once he's sitting down. They only got to a couple doors, but that one with the vampire totally made up for it. Then he takes out his fake vampire teeth so he can eat a Spooktober treat or three.
"How did you spook that guy so good?" The mummy asks of Sasha.

"Do you all live at GLoG then?" Omiko says, keeping an eye on Sasha. "Can't believe they let someone like her stay there."
"Anyway, tell me about crossbows." Rath is clearly something of an expert.

[bc56]

Fifth Floor

Not getting axe murdered is high on Sekhmet's list of priorities too. She conjures up a ball of frigid darkness, throwing it at Ilpholin as it bursts outwards into a large area of blinding shadow and biting cold. The sphere saps energy from within it, dimming light to nothing, draining heat, and slowing movement. "Now! Run!" she shouts, bolting for the door she indicated earlier.

[Deathkeeper]

[Fourth Floor- Dragon and Crocodile]

Nak nods, and he decides not to tell the goblin what a horrible life she must live, not knowing anything about crocodiles, which are clearly the best critters around because Daddy made them.
”Let’s go!” he instead says brightly.

[Earl of Purple]

Fourth Floor- Dragon, Crocodile, Candy

"Sounds good to me!" Cheasadh grins and will probably follow Brinika to the sweets on the table. Hopefully Brinika walks quickly.

[CosmicHobbit]

Nope, No Trouble At All

"Sounds fun." The man replies. He sure takes the drunkenplay as part of his costum.
"I got a few ideas, but we would need some magic for this right?"

Nope, No Trouble At All

If the drunkenness is acting, then it's done very well, and the man has a strong tolerance, considering how much wine he downed.

Beamer shrugs while nodding. Real clear there. "While we don' technically need it, it makes things a lo' easier."

[Reinholdt]

[Spooky Children]

This one knows fear.

Sasha, lacking any visible, usable arms, draws forth a shadow tendril from the ground to take ahold of the ultimate candy bar Olon is offering and hold it in that. It floats alongside her, softly undulating with sweets carefully secured. She even nods to the shadow tendril when the mummy asks her how she spooked em. With shadow tendrils of course. And some other stuff that's a bit more than can be explained in words. But she doesn't want to spook the mummy, so doesn't show him what lies beyond this world.

She does follow the group back to the tables though.

[Fifth Floor]

If the sphere had been thrown when Ilpholin had appeared in the doorway, it would have been more effective. Now, mere steps from Nadas, what little catches her will be minimal. Ilpholin's swing may have been blocked, but she carries the forward momentum into a crouch, using deft footwork to try to twirl around the light warrior, keeping the axe between her and the light as the weapon attempts to slice into its side. Meanwhile the chain as Ilpholin's outward hand is free to lash out in an effort to catch Sekhmet and trip her. So long as Sekhmet avoids or blocks this in some manner, she will make it out the door and into the hallway beyond. The twirl is designed to end in a kick toward's Nadas' midsection to throw him off balance.

"So then die as you buy her time to escape," Ilpholin replies coldly.

[Zefir]

Nope, No Trouble At All

If the drunkenness is acting, then it's done very well, and the man has a strong tolerance, considering how much wine he downed.

Beamer shrugs while nodding. Real clear there. "While we don' technically need it, it makes things a lo' easier."

Nope, No Trouble At All

"Okay, if you got something were we don't need it, then let's go with that." he says. Since he himself isn't able to do magic he might use some of his powers to drip a drink or such little things.
"So what is it?"

[billtodamax]

Spooky Children

Olon and Endok take up seats across from each other at the table and set their buckets down on the table. The ultimate candy bars are a little large for the table so they sit on the ground. Olon keeps hers next to her while Endok protectively sits his between his legs. OK. What has everyone got. We all have one of the big ones so no point in trading those. She says, tipping her bucket upside down and letting the candy fall out. Endok starts picking out individual pieces and sorting his into piles. I'm Endok and my sister is Olon. He tells the vampire. She's our spooky friend only she can't talk so we don't know her name. Does anyone want to trade for these blue ones?

Oh, no, we live in Oshurfeb. GLoG's just the settlement aboveground. Rath tells her. Some sort of charity thing. Probably they're helping her there. Just wish my kids would find some more normal friends. They even have elves up there, can you believe it? Then she's distracted from the subject. Ah well, I don't make crossbows any more myself, not much call for wooden ones with the amount of metal we have stockpiled. My husband's the real craftsdwarf there. Still, I know a bit. She pulls the crossbow off her shoulder and holds it sideways for demonstration. This one here's a fair bit of craft. Materials are a bit strange - is this bone encrusted with uh... onyx? She asks, tapping at the crystal. Point is, it'll shoot straight enough most of the time but it's not really heavy enough to use as a bludgeon if things come down to it.

[Recaiden]

[Spooky Children]

"You really can't talk? Like, at all? That's too bad." muses the mummy, carefully taking candy out of their bucket.
"Nice to meet you, Endok, I-"
The Margrave bursts in, saying "I'm Ankhenesmeryre, and this is my great-great-great-grand-uncle Torry, and that's Shan, who's uh, confusing."
"I'll trade you these peanut ones for the blues." offers Torry the newly-named vampire.

"Haven't met any elves yet, I don't think." Omiko says. It's too bad, really. Elves sound cool, even if all her parts are warning her that they're bad news.

She looks to the crossbow as the demonstration begins, an extra eye appearing on the back of her hand to get a closer look.
"Bone and ", she corrects. An odd name, considering that it isn't red at all. "Why would you bludgeon things with it? Don't you have actual bludgeons for that? Wouldn't it need to be really heavy and awkward to stand up to that?"

[Fifth Floor]

Nadas takes one more step towards the hallway, but then Ilpholin is right in there swinging, and he can't get past her.
The light warrior does a totally-uncalled-for flip over the oncoming axe swing, launching a quick jab towards Ilpholin's arm in midair and another when it gets back on its feet.
Okay, don't get distracted. Take this just like we've practiced. Nadas thinks to himself.
He twists to he side, not-quite getting out of the way of the kick, but keeping enough balance to send his sword snickering up to cut at the leg that kicked him. I's not his best work.

[Magic_Hat]

"I came for the candy! And also possible secret, buried treasure."

Magic_Hat starts to look for secret treasure - the buried kind or of another kind.

[bc56]

Fifth Floor

The chain wraps around Sekhmet's ankle, and she tumbles to the ground in a tangle. The impact stuns her, causing her to lose control over the sphere of darkness. Rather than fizzle out, it grows, drawing on more power and expanding rapidly, filling the whole room with blinding shadows and biting cold. Sekhmet pushes herself to her feet, luckily immune to her own power.

[CosmicHobbit]

Nope, No Trouble At All

"Okay, if you got something were we don't need it, then let's go with that." he says. Since he himself isn't able to do magic he might use some of his powers to drip a drink or such little things.
"So what is it?"

Nope, No Trouble At All

Beamer looks left, then right, then says, "If you're good at sneakin' aroun', then ya might be able to set up some stuff to happen to really make 'em **** their pants. Like, I walk out, yellin' about revenge, an' then you make stuff start fallin' from the ceilin'. By the way, do ya know anyone at this party who can do magic and would be willin' ta help us? Like I said, magic would certainly make it easier." Beamer has magic, but has apparently forgotten that fact.

[Felandria]

Magic_Hat starts to look for secret treasure - the buried kind or of another kind.

Felandria follows, because treasure hunts are fun.

[Morty]

[Fourth Floor- Dragon and Crocodile]

Brinika slips the fluffy pink dragon-fox costume back on and heads towards the candy tables. She does walk quickly; Cheasadh will have noticed by now that goblin kids are oddly quick on their stumpy little legs.

"There's the candy! Um, do crocodiles eat the same candy as goblins, gnomes and others?"

[Magic_Hat]

Felandria follows, because treasure hunts are fun.

Magic_Hat starts banging on the walls to see if they're hollow allowing for a secret passageway.

[5a Violista]

[Well-provisioned food table]

Holly does feel a little bad, but there's nothing she can do about it so hopefully if she drinks something she'll feel better.
"It happens," she adds, trying to play it off.

Luckily, Nigel is a master at changing the subject. "Oh, no, I just barely met her," she says. "First time ever, but I heard she's pretty famous as well." Not quite as famous as Magtok, but still a little famous. "Can you believe she's hosting a party while pregnant? Sure, she has all these robots to help her but it's still got to be hard."



[the Green Girl Group]

Good nutrition is important.

Holly looks between the two. "So how did you two meet?" she asks. Asking other people questions is a good opportunity to take a break from talking and eat while listening. And people generally like talking about themselves. Before she eats, however, she adds on a secondary question, using the same euphemism: "Was it before or the greenening?"

Plus, Holly's supposed to be an investigator. Investigators like asking questions about people.

[Zefir]

Nope, No Trouble At All

Beamer looks left, then right, then says, "If you're good at sneakin' aroun', then ya might be able to set up some stuff to happen to really make 'em **** their pants. Like, I walk out, yellin' about revenge, an' then you make stuff start fallin' from the ceilin'. By the way, do ya know anyone at this party who can do magic and would be willin' ta help us? Like I said, magic would certainly make it easier." Beamer has magic, but has apparently forgotten that fact.

Nope, No Trouble At All

"I'm sorry, but i don't know anyone here. At least I assume it." he says. "The costums make it rather hard to tell who is who expect for the host who, well introduced herself as the host. But you seem to have a little power yourself, at least I think I feel you got some magic there."

[Reinholdt]

[Spooky Children]

Sasha tilts her head a little, but doesn't actually disprove anyone saying she can't talk. Instead, a tendril of pours out her bucket of candy as well, doing a poor job of keeping it just in front of her. She doesn't really seem to mind if any of her pieces end up in another's pile though.

She does send a tendril to slide a blue one over to Torry in exchange for his peanut one though. Olon and Endok will have to tell her if that's a good trade or not.

[Fifth Floor]

Ilpholin predicted a higher attack from the construct. With her ducking and attacking low, it only makes sense to her to get above and counter. Ilpholin's own hard light energy juts out like a spike to shield her arm from attack, readily blocking the constructs moves. Nadas is a different story. She didn't expect him to be anywhere near competent with that sword. He's never shown any martial capabilities before, always with a nose in a book. It simply seemed like a component to the spell he was using. So there's a definite sound of sword cutting flesh, a dark liquid not quite like blood oozing from the wound.

If it can even be seen before everything goes dark and cold. Ilpholin snorts amusement. "Feels like home brother." Perhaps Nadas neglected to tell his apprentice where and how she grew up. How extensively she's trained to fight in the dark. The nymph's even shown more capability fighting blind than with sight and quite recently downed a warbear in such a manner. The mental note to find some way to replicate this effect to her advantage is filed away for later as her assault continues. Even if it's getting too cold for her liking. She'll have to accelerate Nadas' death for her and her child's safety.

Rising back up and attempting to minimize movement on her currently damaged leg, Ilpholin turns so that the chain bluntly attacks the construct in a wide, distracting sweep simply meant to keep it at bay. Her axe swings out towards Nadas as a feint designed to catch his sword between the blade and hilt of the axe, getting it stuck. The real danger is her hair, growing long and lashing out to wrap around Nadas' throat like a snake. A very fatal position to be caught in if it succeeds.

[Fourth Floor Event]

The door that is locked a dozen different ways with caution tape all over it starts banging violently. Unlike before, which was a light startle when someone went by, nothing apparent triggered this and the shuddering of the door is a lot stronger than before. Whatever is inside moans and seems quite desperate to escape.